Why Locate to Ripley?
With "The Heart of Hospitality" as its community motto, Ripley, West Virginia, represents an ideal place to live and do business. The community's various cultural activities and focus on downtown business success provide an environment that encourages growth, preservation and reinvention in the community business sector.
Ripley is the Jackson County Seat, providing a busy activity center for the county. A number of promotional activities serve as traffic generators for downtown businesses.
The annual West Virginia Mountain State Arts and Crafts Fair, one of the top ten festivals in the United States, brings nearly 40,000 tourists to Ripley during the first week of July. In addition, Ripley's annual 4th of July celebration is known as the largest small-town Independence Day celebration in the United States.
Nearly 20,000 visitors come to the area in July for the Jackson County Junior Fair, one of the largest county fairs in West Virginia. Ripley's On Sale...Believe It or Not, a community-wide yard sale on Friday and Saturday prior to Memorial Day also brings thousands of shoppers into Ripley's downtown.
A business locating in Ripley would have access to a variety of information through the town's Main Street program. New and expanding businesses are provided with information on small business development and contacts with the West Virginia Small Business Development Center.
In addition, new and expanding businesses are provided with two educational business seminars yearly and have access to design services from a historic design consultant contracted through Main Street West Virginia. A mini-grant for design is possible through Main Street Ripley, providing a 20 percent match for facade, lighting and signage improvements.
New businesses are also assisted through the Ripley Chamber of Commerce, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Jackson County Development Authority.
Ripley's future plans will continue to make the town a profit-generator for new businesses. A community theatre is being renovated to provide cultural activities for residents and visitors as well as serving as a place for conferences and community meetings. The town has also received a Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant for the completion of a streetscape project in the center of town, which has already encouraged business expansion with a surge of new businesess. In addition, the city is completing a trails program for the West Ripley City Park.
Ripley provides visitors easy access to Interstate 77. State routes 33 and 21 cross the center of town, providing an average traffic count of 15,000 cars passing through daily. Finally, parking is plentiful and easily accessible.
An attractive town with attractive business potential, Ripley could be the place for your tourism business!
SPECIFIC BUSINESS INCENTIVES:
- Main Street West Virginia services, including:
Needs assessments
Design and operational plan recommendations
Professional design assistance
Progress meetings
Training workshops
On-site technical assistance
State and national assistance and support
Business Enhancement Team (BET) Program
- Many promotional events
- Provides information on small business development and state contacts
- Main Street Ripley Mini-Grants
- 2 yearly educational business seminars
- County development authority provides business assistance
- Local chamber of commerce networking opportunities
- Streetscape project underway
- Plentiful parking and interstate accessible
- Main Street Ripley market analysis data
Main Street Ripley
P.O. Box 89
Ripley, WV 25271
Phone: 1-304-372-1637
Fax: 1-304-372-6693
Email: mainstreetripley@citynet.net
Web: www.mainstreetripley.org
