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There is hope for our valley

The Weirton-Steubenville area has gotten quite a bit of bad news lately, with the announcement of several businesses planning to close their doors this year.

One bright spot did come about Tuesday, when local officials announced the completion of a land purchase agreement with Pietro Fiorentini, a manufacturing firm based in Italy with operations focused on the natural gas industry. The plant, which will be located in the Three Springs Business Park in Weirton, will be the company’s first manufacturing operation in the United States. With an initial employment of around 41, company officials say they anticipate having 150 workers once in full operation.

This project has been more than four years in the making, tracing its history to a 2012 mission trip to Europe by local and state economic development officials. As with any large development effort, it takes time to bear fruit, and we feel this is a good sign for the future of our region.

We probably will never see another day where a single company employees tens of thousands of area residents, but if we can attract one business that employs a couple of hundred, we believe others will follow.

Bringing Pietro Fiorentini to Weirton also shows what can happen when different entities work together. This $9 million project would not have been possible without cooperation between the State of West Virginia, the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle, the City of Weirton, the Brooke County Commission and others who worked with company officials in an effort to lure them to the 26.4 acre plot of land.

We thank those who have worked to bring this new business opportunity to our region, and who continue to work to put us back onto a sound path. There is hope out there. It just takes time.

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