The Inter-Mountain photos by Taylor McKinnie Lisa Wood, left, executive director for the Elkins Randolph County Chamber of Commerce, and Mark Doak, right, CEO of Davis Health and member of the Chamber board, speak to guests Wednesday at the Oxley House in Elkins.

ELKINS — The Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce and community celebrated recent accomplishments and discussed future plans at a “kick-off” event for “Building a Vibrant Community 2.0.”

A collaboration between the Chamber and the Randolph County Development Authority, the Wednesday night event at the Oxley House Cocktail Bar saw a large turnout, as members of the Chamber and the community came together to begin the next steps in the “Building a Vibrant Community” initiative.

Several guests joined Chamber Executive Director Lisa Wood in dressing in optional “Roaring 1920’s attire,” which, she said, was a play on the initiative beginning in 2020.

Wood announced during the event that Quint Studer, author of the book “Building a Vibrant Community,” which inspired the Chamber’s initiative, will be returning to Randolph County in March to speak to community members and offer more ideas.

Quint’s book emphasizes making your community a place to live, work, play and stay. Wood said the Chamber distributed 450 copies of the book throughout the community.

“This book was written on (Studer’s) experience, mostly through his revitalization efforts as a community leader in Pensacola, Florida,” Wood told guests at Tuesday’s event.

Studer came to Randolph County in 2020 and offered several suggestions on how to make the community “vibrant.” Some of his suggestions included maximizing college and community interaction with Davis & Elkins College, as well as trying to expand on ventures such as the quilting done by the Elkins Sewing Center and various guilds. 

On March 12, Stuber will be present at the Chamber’s Annual Dinner and Awards and will take part in a Chamber workshop on March 13.

Mark Doak, CEO of Davis Health System, a member of the Chamber board and sponsor of the “Building a Vibrant Community” initiative, spoke to guests on the advancements the community has made in the last five years, listing a multitude of achievements, including:

* The opening of Jimbo’s Place on Davis Avenue and Great Harvest Bread Co. on Plantation Way in 2020.

* $25 million in broadband grants were awarded to Randolph County in 2022.

* The Citizens Bank Amphitheatre’s completion at Davis & Elkins College in 2022.

* The Randolph County Community Pool and Splash Pad opening in 2023.

* The opening of the renovated Tygart Hotel, and also Clementine’s Cantina, in 2024.

* The Chamber began extending free membership to all Randolph County businesses in 2024.

“So you can see, if you think back to 2020 and this being 2025, many, many businesses have opened, have expanded, have done things in this area,” Doak said. “There’s a lot of progress happening, the question is how do we move forward.”

Several newer business owners in the area also spoke to the guests, including Colin McFadden, who became the owner of Trickett’s Hardware with his wife, Heidi Storrick McFadden, an Elkins native, in 2023. McFadden said local businesses like the Charm Farm and Davis Electric help make the area vibrant.

“What makes (Elkins) home for us… businesses that have a name and a number behind them… old businesses around here, there’s a name behind it and a phone number you can find to call them, and that’s what is thrilling to us about calling Elkins home,” McFadden said. “…Genuine businesses where there’s somebody that will back up what they’re doing…”

Wood also told guests that the Chamber has created a survey to ask residents their opinions on progress in the area and what improvements should be made. The Chamber offered a similar survey in 2020. Wood said the new survey’s questions are the exact same as the 2020 survey’s, so officials can compare the “numbers to numbers” and see where the movement needs to go from here.