Published: June 15, 2007 02:33 pm      

$5 million loan to push development

PRINCETON — A West Virginia Economic Development Authority loan will help one company recycle metal and restore one of Princeton’s most historic sites.

Gov. Joe Manchin’s “Open for Business” report recently heralded the $5 million loan for Recycle West Virginia LP, a new recycling and metal-shredding operation moving onto 14 acres of the Virginian Industrial Park.

Tom Bishop, the man behind Recycle West Virginia, said this week he was eager to bring his metal recovery operation to Princeton and pledged to be a good business neighbor.

Although he declined to name the total investment Recycle West Virginia is making into the Princeton operation, he said it was “considerably more” than the $5 million the WVEDC is loaning the company.

Ultimately, Bishop said he expected the site to employ up to 38 people on the rail yard that once provided the livelihood for most of Princeton. At its peak, hundreds of people worked at the Virginian Railway shops situated near the tracks that turned Princeton from an isolated farming community into a thriving town and business location in the early 1900s.

Bishop said Recycle West Virginia’s historic site made the decision to build in Princeton an exciting challenge. Because the yard is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the five new or refurbished buildings that will sit at the site must resemble the original shop buildings as closely as possible. Developers were already working this week to restore the existing structures that were sound and rebuild the ones that had deteriorated beyond repair or burned since Norfolk Southern closed the shops completely in the 1980s.

“We’re restoring the buildings back to the original structure. The outside will be as close as possible,” he said.

The largest of the buildings will require 56,000 square feet of space to house the state-the-art metal shredder capable of recycling light metal from a variety of sources, particularly household appliances such as refrigerators, washers and dryers. Putting the shredder inside the building will contain the operations and keep the vicinity tidy outside.

“It will not look like your normal recycling site,” he said. “We’re looking forward to being a good neighbor and employer.”

While no recycling operation can reclaim every bit of metal, Bishop said RWV aimed to recover 90 percent of the metal in whatever it recycles.

“Anything we can recover or recycle and keep out of our landfills, the better off we are,” he said.

Once the metal is recovered, Bishop said it could then be sold to steel mills or other industry outlets for inclusion in new construction materials.

Although his goal is to eventually employee 38 people at the Princeton site, Bishop said that would not happen immediately.

If construction and site work progress on schedule, Recycle West Virginia could open in March or April 2008 and begin working up to a full staff. The positions available will range from essential labor to highly-skilled machine operations.

The most technical jobs will be those of the shredder operators.

“It’s all computerized. It’s going to be the latest, state-of-the-art metal recovery,” he said.

In addition, Bishop said the site would include office personnel, including metal buyers and more.

Bishop, who also runs Berry Home Centers with offices in Chilhowie, Abingdon and Marion, Va., said his business experience in West Virginia had been pleasant so far.

“People have been so nice, and everyone we’ve dealt with has been so helpful,” Berry said, explaining he has worked extensively with the Manchin’s office, the secretary of state, the economic development authority and the Development Authority of Mercer County.

There is still more land available for development at the Virginian Industrial Park, a 60-acre tract of land that has remained vacant since the railway shops closed. The City of Princeton, and particularly former City Manager Doug Freeman, worked for years to get the rail yard declared a historic site, opening up federal funds for developers or businesses interested in working at or locating on the site. Princeton installed a railroad crossing near the new Princeton Railroad Museum, and the state Division of Highways constructed an access road off of South Second Street, ensuring developers and future employees a safe way to get to and from the location.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.