SFM Will Continue To Run Highlands Sports Complex
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
SFM Will Continue To Run Highlands Sports Complex
The Ohio County Development Authority is signing on for another five years with the management team that oversees The Highlands Sports Complex. The ODCA has had a public-private partnership with SFM since before the opening of the facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. enrollment in the West Liberty University/Marshall University aviation program at the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport for the fall is predicted to be higher than expected. The OCDA also re-appointed their same officers for the year.
WHEELING — The Ohio County Development Authority is signing on for another five years with the management team that oversees The Highlands Sports Complex.
OCDA members convened for their first meeting of 2025 at The Highlands Event Center Thursday night, and determined their present contract with Sports Facilities Management (SFM) of Clearwater, Florida should be renewed.
The ODCA has had a public-private partnership with SFM since before the opening of the facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Ohio County Solicitor Don Tennant was directed by the board to draft a legal addendum to the current lease agreement between the OCDA and SFM, and execute that by June 30.
Harvey Greenidge, general manager of The Highlands Sports Complex, had been on the agenda for Thursday night’s meeting to provide an update of operations at the facility. But he was not able to attend, explained County Commissioner Randy Wharton, also president of the OCDA.
In other reports before the OCDA, board members were briefed by Kevin Price, chief development officer for aviation at the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport.
He told them enrollment in the West Liberty University/Marshall University aviation program at the airport for the fall is predicted to be higher than expected.
“It looks like we’re going to have 24 in the fall – and that’s about five students more than they actually projected,” Price said.
He added that an effort led by Retired Major General James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard to train emergency responders also is looking at having a space at the airport.
This would both increase both operations there and fuel sales, according to Price.
“I think we could fill a particular niche for them,” he said.
Stephanie Hockenbery, director of growth and retention for the county, told the OCDA members she is involved in getting together some of the families who have moved to the Ohio Valley in recent months, and having them tell their story on video.
The footage would be used to market the area as a place to live, she said.
The OCDA also re-appointed their same officers for the year. Wharton will serve as president; Eriks Janelsins as vice president; Mary Pockl as secretary and John Olejasz as treasurer.