WHEELING — The future of the Ohio Valley is the responsibility of everyone who lives here, not just the most familiar names. In every corner of our region, there are people working every day to make our communities better places to live, work and learn. This week, we shine a spotlight across our region to introduce you to some impressive people. Some you’ll know instantly. Others may not be the most ubiquitous, but their contributions are crucial to making the valley go.

The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register and Times Leader are searching the full spectrum of the Ohio Valley to highlight the Spectrum of Progress. You’ll find the supplement in all three publications over the next three days starting today.

Our annual Progress edition examines the strides being made across the Ohio Valley in the areas of Education, Health, Community, Finance, Manufacturing & Technology, and Professional Services.

Our reporters talked to teachers, doctors, attorneys, faith leaders, financial professionals, paving companies and many more. They’re the decision-makers, the front-line workers, the service providers who do their best daily to make our neighborhoods the best they can be.

They shared with us not just what makes their fields of expertise tick, but what they see in the future.

“With Spectrum of Progress, we wanted to reach into every corner of the valley to show our readers that anyone with the right mindset can be influential members of the community,” said Derek Redd, managing editor of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. “Our subjects this year exemplify that and it has been our pleasure to present their stories to you.”

For example, in Manufacturing and Finance, we talked with Brandy Killeen, West Virginia Northern Community College’s welding program director. Hers is an industry that has been male dominated for so many years, but she smashed through the glass ceiling to become WVNCC’s first female welding instructor, blazing a trail for other women to find success in welding. In Finance, we talked with Pam McKim, vice president of business development at Belmont Savings Bank. She has 40 decades of experience in the financial world, and has used that expertise to educate the youth of the Ohio Valley about financial literacy, one of the bedrocks to a successful adulthood.

In Health, we sat down with Enzio Figaretti, at just age 23, already owner and operator of Country Grown Cannabis in Elm Grove. The medicinal purposes for cannabis have only grown in popularity in recent years, and his shop is helping destigmatize its use. In Education, we interviewed Michael Aulick, professor of theater and director of the Kelly Theatre at West Liberty University. He started WLU’s theater program from the ground up, and has been able to teach principles that help not just on stage but in life overall.

In Professional Services, we talked with Tito’s Sloppy Doggs owner and operator Christopher Burress about what it is like to be a small business owner in the Ohio Valley. And in Community, we talked with Rabbi Joshua Lief of Temple Shalom in Wheeling. He discussed how serves as the bridge between the Ohio Valley’s Jewish community and the valley community as a whole, as well as the importance he places on being a leader in interfaith issues.

These are just a sample of the many stories you’ll read in the coming days in Spectrum of Progress, as we dive deeper into what makes our region tick and who throughout the region is working hard to keep the wheels turning.