Charleston's chances of advancing to the final round of America's Best Communities competition came to a halt Wednesday, while Huntington advanced with seven other cities across the United States.
City Manager David Molgaard gave Charleston's pitch during the America's Best Communities Summit in Durham, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
The cornerstone of his presentation focused on the city's EDGE project, which stands for Early Dynamic Guided Engagement.
The project includes a planned mixed-use housing development downtown that would target young professionals to both anchor them in the city, but also guide them through a structured leadership program.
"These are early developers of the next technology and social innovations. We want to ask from their perspective how we can make our community better," Molgaard said. Mayoral assistant Rod Blackstone and City Councilwoman Susie Salisbury also attended the summit, and answered questions from a panel of judges after Molgaard's presentation.
But it was Huntington that advanced to the final round of the contest, which will be held in April 2017.
The top three communities will receive an award between $1 million and $3 million.
Huntington Mayor Steve Williams gave that city's pitch, which listed three action plans the community is working to implement, including a riverfront revitalization, conversion of a brownfields site to a polymer technology center and a health innovation corridor.
Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said Wednesday that he's "very proud of the effort we made."
"There's a lot of work that went into it - I think it was very productive," Jones said.
The seven cities that did not advance, including Charleston and Portsmouth, Ohio, will receive $25,000 each to pursue their respective community revitalization plans, according to a news release from America's Best Communities on Wednesday.
The eight finalists that advanced, besides Huntington, are Huntington, Chisago Lakes Area, Minnesota; Darrington/Arlington, Washington; Lake Havasu City, Arizona; Madison, Indiana; Statesboro, Georgia; Tualatin, Oregon; and Valley County/Meadows Valley, Idaho. Those communities each received $100,000.
Reach Elaina Sauber
at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow
@ElainaSauber on Twitter.