Photo by Joselyn King Ohio County Commission President Zack Abraham speaks during the “Welcome Home” gathering taking place Monday night at The Highlands Event Center.

TRIADELPHIA – If Ohio County is going to grow its population more modern housing is needed in the area, and two new residential development projects at The Highlands were hinted at Monday night by County Commission President Zack Abraham.

Abraham spoke during the “Welcome Home” gathering taking place at The Highlands Event Center.

“There is a need for new housing, and a housing task force has been put together,” he said. “We have made some inroads.

“We are hoping to have a new housing development behind Menard’s. Hopefully, we will also have some vertical housing in the lot behind the Hampton Inn.”

There former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Building also offers potential for residential development, Abraham added.

The county also has been talking with city of Wheeling officials about the need to find grant money to update existing houses.

New residents moving to Ohio County in recent months got their official welcome to the community Monday night and a chance to meet other recent transplants during the “Welcome Home” event. The event was organized by Stephanie Hockenberry, Ohio County growth and retention director.

Abraham noted he has been connecting with organizations who have data showing people have been moving both in and out of Ohio County.

“The difficult part is how do we connect to them?” he asked. “Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s easy.”

Abraham explained the first goal of the growth and retention initiative is to increase the population of Ohio County. The second is “to increase the ecosystem for small business,” and the third is to increase the marketing to attract people to Ohio County.

This is in addition to the need for new housing.

A video featuring families who have recently located to Ohio County was unveiled Monday night and will be used to target and attract people living outside the region, he continued.

“That will be starting in June,” he said. “That will be a six month targeted direct marketing initiative to get people to live, and to come visit here.

“Once you come visit here… you see what a quality place this is.”

Abraham also spoke about the initiative’s emphasis on local workforce development. He cited the efforts of Tissan Joel, a Wheeling University graduate who is the owner/founder of Hasule – a pilot internship program that matches college and high school students with employers via computer based upon their interests and skill sets.

Joel is a native of Nigeria who after graduating from Wheeling University moved to Arkansas. He realized the value in living in the Wheeling community and returned.

There are nearly 50 employees involved in the program, and about 2,600 students are participating, according to Abraham. These are students from Wheeling University and West Liberty University, as well as local high schools.

“It all comes down to how we connect them to what’s out there,” he said. “That’s been a huge initiative, and hopefully we will see more from that this fall.”