A group of West Virginia University MBA students is finding out that its plan to revitalize the nearby city of Fairmont may also be a plan that works for other towns and cities across the country.

The three students, all enrolled in the fulltime MBA program in the College of Business and Economics, will travel in late January to Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, a town of nearly 4,700 residents located some 60 miles south of Nashville, to present a plan of community revitalization. But for Brody Prudnick of Charleston, West Virginia; Logan Stout of Flemington, West Virginia; and Ben Scott of Williamstown, West Virginia, these projects have launched them into experiential learning they never dreamed of and, quite probably, high-flying careers after graduation.

Under the supervision of Steven Cutright, director of B&E’s BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, these three graduate students are at the forefront of the Fairmont Rising Initiative, which was chosen as one of 50 quarter-finalists for the America’s Best Communities competition. Each of the quarter-finalists in the national competition was awarded $50,000 to develop a Community Revitalization Plan, which was then submitted to the competition. And while the group has been contacted by a number of other towns and cities about their plans, Mount Pleasant is the next stop.

“We get to be involved in a number of experiential learning projects at B&E,” Prudnick said. “While we’re doing what we can to help West Virginia’s economy, we’re also getting real-world experience.”

“They want us to walk them through this process,” said Cutright. “Our plan is to go to Mount Pleasant, present the proposal and tell them about the Fairmont project, tour the downtown, and then develop tactics and strategies for reconstruction of the downtown area.”

Cutright said a group of investors purchased property in downtown Mount Pleasant and is looking at community revitalization for the area. A B&E alumnus is in that investor group and was aware of the revitalization project for Fairmont, and urged officials in the historic Tennessee town to invite the group to have a look and make a proposal.

The students said the revitalization plans have four basic components: deconstruction, demolition, reconstruction and planned communities. The City of Fairmont, for example, is comprised of many abandoned and distressed buildings.

“Our plan was devised so that buildings could be utilized in the most beneficial manner for the city,” Stout said. “That might be salvaging the materials and selling them or reconstructing the buildings to be usable assets. In the end, the intention of this plan is to create job opportunities, engage new business and attract a high income population to Fairmont.”

Cutright said the students listened to what Fairmont city officials had to say before formulating a plan.

“We didn’t go tell officials with the City of Fairmont what they needed,” he said. “Fairmont told us what the challenges were, what was needed and what their goals were. We designed a plan that accomplished what they wanted, and that plan has really appealed to them.”

Prudnick, Stout and Scott are working on the project 20 hours per week as graduate assistants through a collaborative funding effort of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. This project is also part of Entrepreneurship 430, B&E’s experiential learning course.

Scott said the goal for Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, is the same as the goal for Fairmont, West Virginia. “To make the area vibrant again.”

For further information about the WVU College of Business and Economics, follow B&E on Twitter at @wvucobe or visit be.wvu.edu.

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CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131 or patrick.gregg@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.