Frontieras North America’s announcement that it has closed on 183 acres in Mason County with a plan to build an $850 million coal reformation facility appears to be wonderful news for those communities.

It’s a big project that, if all goes as planned, could result in 2,000 construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs. Gov. Patrick Morrisey says many of those jobs are expected to be more than $100,000 per year. Company officials say the construction could begin later this year and the plant could be up and running by the middle of 2028. Those same officials also claim the project will one day improve the state’s gross domestic product by 3%.

It is understandable then that both Morrisey and U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., rushed to put their stamps on the announcement.

“It is fantastic to see the progress Frontieras North America has made in Mason County. We knew this project would be a home run when we first announced this investment over three and a half years ago,” Justice said. “Keep up the good work, West Virginia.”

And, though the Frontieras project was, indeed, first announced back in 2022, Morrisey touted the reasons he said the company had chosen our state.

“Most importantly, what they have said is they looked at our regulatory environment, they’ve looked at our 50 by 50 plan, and they know we want to invest in our people, and they believe in the strength of our workers. It’s a big day in West Virginia, very exciting, and as I’m here on the Ohio River, let me say this is a big win in the Backyard Brawl,” Morrisey said.

Fifty by 50 is the Morrisey administration’s plan to increase the number of gigawatts of electricity from 16 to 50 by 2050. Given his focus, too, on data centers, that is understandable.

Back in 2022, in discussing the potential Frontieras project, Justice called West Virginia “the diamond in the rough that everyone missed.” At that time, state officials expected Frontieras to begin construction on their project in the second half of 2023.

“West Virginia gave us every reason to build here, natural resources, world-class logistics and a government that understands the importance of industrial growth,” said Matthew McKean, CEO and co-founder of Frontieras North America.

Let us hope that remains the case, as lawmakers appear to be working on further improvements to our business climate. And, as we cheer what appears to be Mason County’s good fortune, let us not let off the gas in the effort to recruit more such large employers looking for that diamond in the rough.