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Tourism Corridor Could Mean Big Business for Wayne County

When you think of Southern West Virginia, you should think of tourism and recreation. At least that’s what Joe Boffo, owner and operator of Rustic Ravines, a premier cabin and ATV-rental facility in southern Wayne County, West Virginia, believes. Boffo is one of several key stakeholders and business owners investing big dollars along an expanding recreation corridor in Southern West Virginia. “We see the AHH 152 Tourism Corridor as the new Gatlinburg,” said Boffo, referring to West Virginia RT 152, a main north-south transportation artery through Wayne County. If Boffo and the other major investors in this area realize their vision, the impacts on the region will be incredible.

The AHH or Appalachian Heartland Highway is a planned tourism and recreation corridor along West Virginia 152. In 2020 a federally funded planning initiative was completed to establish and enhance recreation assets along the corridor and drive tourism into Southern West Virginia. Tourism-related attractions along the corridor include Heritage Farm and Museum, beautiful Beech Fork State Park, East Lynn Lake Recreation Area, two championship-quality golf courses, premier cabin rentals at Rustic Ravines, and the extremely popular Hatfield McCoy Trail System.

The plan, which was funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and administered by Region II Planning and Development Council, concludes that a new welcome center, known as the Gateway to Appalachia Welcome Center, located off of I-64 near Huntington, West Virginia, is essential to spur tourism development in the area and to reach 750,000 annual visits to the corridor per year, a 7% annual growth rate. 

Heritage Farm & the Northern Gateway

Momentum around tourism and outdoor recreation in the corridor has been building for years, beginning with Heritage Farm and Museum. In 2006, Heritage Farm officially opened its gates as an attraction where visitors could learn about early pioneer life and Appalachian frontier farming practices. Located just minutes from I-64 in northern Wayne County, the farm has grown its attraction list to include a petting zoo, general store, sawmill, working forge for smithing, an artisanal center, and numerous other activities. The facility now includes more than 30 structures, with seven individual museums and was recently named West Virginia's first Smithsonian Affiliate Institution. Most impressively, Heritage Farm has no plans of slowing down. Audy Perry, Executive Director of this proud family enterprise and community non-profit organization, continues to bring more high-quality attractions to the farm.

“[We’ve] added many family-focused opportunities like Critter Corner, the MakerSpace, Six Simple Machines Discovery Zone Playground, wagon rides, and a brand-new Appalachian Backyard Adventure which includes a West Virginia Nature Center and Treehouse Trek,” said Perry. 

The new Appalachian Backyard Adventure is part of an exciting new multi-million-dollar development for Heritage Farm, which seeks to bring more recreation and adventure-style elements to the farm, including a canopy-ropes challenge course and much expanded wild-life park. But to make this development work, we need to drive visitors to the area, and one major development needed is a new welcome center.

According to Perry, the capturing of just 1% of the more than 45,000 vehicles per day that travel past I-64 Exit 8 could result in $30 M in new annual revenues for the area. To do this, though, state and local leaders must invest in a “new state-of-the-art Heart of Appalachia Welcome Center at Exit 8 to help travelers know they arrived someplace truly special.”     

A new premier welcome center, accessible from both east and westbound traffic, marks the area as the northern entry point for tourism in Southern West Virginia and would guide visitors to recreation opportunities along the AHH, including Heritage Farm and Museum, Rustic Ravines, and the ever-growing Hatfield McCoy Trail System. 

Hatfield McCoy Trail System and the Southern Anchors

The Hatfield McCoy Trail has become a powerful force in driving tourism to the area. Since the opening of 3 trails in October of 2000, the trails have expanded into five counties-- Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, and Wyoming. With the opening of the Hatfield McCoy Trail at Cabwaylingo State Forest on March 1, 2021, the trails will be expanded into Wayne County. The new trail will include 60 miles of ATV trails and include several miles of single-track dirt bike trails. It sounds astonishing, but these trails have been an enormous success and an economic catalyst for some of the hardest-hit counties in the state these past several years.

“The Hatfield McCoy trails sold 56,258 annual permits in 2019 and is one of the fastest-growing tourist attractions in West Virginia,” says Jeff Lusk, executive director of Hatfield McCoy Recreation Authority. “The Hatfield McCoy trails is serving as an anchor attraction for communities in Southern West Virginia.” 

With nearly 85% of these permits being sold to out-of-state residents, the trails have proven to be a powerful draw for bringing tourism dollars into the local economies.

“These guests need food, lodging, ATV rentals, and other services. The communities around the trail system are reinventing themselves as trail communities with numerous lodges, shops, campgrounds, and ATV rental companies being opened,” Lusk says. 

The only thing holding back further development of these trails is the need for more lodging in the area and other complementary development such as restaurants, convenience stores, and retail outfitters. 

“On a given weekend, vastly more people wish to visit the trail system than we have beds to accommodate them,” says Lusk. “The next and equally important need is food choices. The trail system will need more restaurants to support the growing ridership of the trails. These two types of businesses will provide opportunities for entrepreneurs for the next several years while the system builds out into new locations.”

Rustic Ravines & the West Virginia Tourism Development Act

Joe Boffo, owner of Rustic Ravines, is helping to answer that call for more investment in lodging. In just three short years, Rustic Ravines has become the premier cabin and ATV rental destination in the region. Located about 14 Miles North of the Hatfield McCoy Trailhead at Cabwaylingo State Park, Rustic Ravines has all the pastoral charm of Southern West Virginia coupled with high-end amenities and mountains of activities within a short drive. Hiking and ATV trails are just the tip of the iceberg. Within a few minutes’ drive, you can be kayaking in beautiful 12 Pole Creek, driving a recreational watercraft in East Lynn Lake, which boasts more than a thousand acres of open water and a first-class marina, or playing one of three premier golf courses at nearby Sugarwood Golf Course, Creekside Golf Course, and Eagle Ridge. The Rustic Ravines campground boasts plenty of activities as well, with an impressive 3-D bow range and a ½ mile-long zip-line affectionately known as the “Big Zipper,” which reaches speeds of 60 MPH. 

One key driver of Rustic Ravine’s investment is the West Virginia Tourism Development Act (TDA). The TDA encourages the development and expansion of tourism development projects in West Virginia. The program offers a 25-percent tax credit from consumers’ sales and service taxes collected on the gross receipts generated directly from a tourism-related business’s daily operations. Additionally, certain projects can receive a 35-percent credit if the project is on an abandoned surface mine or is on/adjacent to a state or national forest or park.  Eligible projects need to incorporate more than $1,000,000 in new investment and must generate a net increase in sales revenue annually in addition to pulling at least 25% of its revenues from out of state visitors. For those projects that do qualify, the benefits are substantial.

“[The tax credit] is very important to us and will continue to be for the next 10 years or more,” Boffo said. “It has helped by allowing us to reinvest back into our business, which in turn allows us to operate more easily and provide better service and, in general, maintain better accommodations.”

“We are so excited and thankful to have the WV Tourism Development Act as a resource for new and expanding tourism projects. Last year, we had the most applications in a year than we’ve ever had, and we are gearing up for the biggest year yet in 2021,” says Morganne Tenney, Tourism Development Act Coordinator for the West Virginia Development Office. “Our adventure and beauty is the backbone of our state, and we feel that this incentive perfectly fits our Almost Heaven!”         

Keeping the Momentum Going

The momentum has already started. “We have lit the fuse here on this side of the state at both ends of the 152 Tourism Corridor,” says Boffo. “Now, we just need to fill in the blanks!” 

A key part of filling in those blanks is establishing new businesses that build off some of these attractions’ success. A dynamic economic development organization called Advantage Valley is helping to do precisely that with the launch of the FASTER WV Program.  

FASTER WV is a federally funded program that seeks to build out the entrepreneurial capacities of the region. The program helps prospective entrepreneurs launch their businesses by offering one-on-one business coaching, an 8-week entrepreneurship course, and access to capital through a dedicated revolving loan fund.

“The program is designed to assist entrepreneurs and new businesses in Kanawha, Putnam, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Lincoln, and Wayne counties — a region that’s been hard hit by the decline in the state’s once-booming coal industry,” says Terrell Ellis, Executive Director of Advantage Valley. “The program’s goal is to facilitate the startup or expansion of 50 businesses at the end of three years.”

Outdoor Recreation is one of several areas specified as a growth opportunity for the area. This means that entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on these opportunities are in a unique position to do so with this program’s help. 

“Outdoor Recreation represents a growing industry that generates over $23 billion in annual revenue in the U.S. The industry is significantly underserved in our region, with only 26% of the $24 million in regional demand being met in-region by existing businesses – demonstrating the significant market opportunity in the Advantage Valley Region. This is an incredible opportunity for our region to build on tourism success,” said Ellis. 

“All the ingredients for success are right here in front of us,” says Adam Phillips, Business Development Specialist for the Huntington Area Development Council. “We have beautiful natural resources and recreation capabilities. As shown by the growing number of annual permits issued by the Hatfield McCoy Trail System, we have proven demand for this type of investment. We have support mechanisms in place to help launch these new businesses, but most of all, we have momentum and a growing sense of what is possible. These are priceless assets that will help set the stage for a recreation renaissance in the coming years.”

For more information about how you can invest in these opportunities, please contact Adam Phillips, Business Development Specialist, Huntington Area Development Council, (304) 633-0990 or via email at aphillips@hadco.org.