Appalachia Matters

At The Leadership Table with Retired Major General Jim Hoyer this week is Morgan O’Brien , Chief Executive Officer of Hope Gas. O’Brien, a native of Pittsburgh, quickly became an honorary Mountaineer who cherishes West Virginians and thinks of Pittsburgh as a suburb of Morgantown. The General and Morgan discuss the process of rebranding Hope Gas and the value of West Virginia as a place to do busi...

This week’s podcast is dedicated to   Veterans  and Veterans Day.   At the Leadership Table with  Retired Major General Jim Hoyer talks with guests Mara and Ken Boggs , both veterans. Mara is an army veteran and former state director for Senator US Senator Joe Manchin , and she heads up the Charleston Area Alliance, Ken is also an army veteran who served Afghanistan and now serves in the Army Nati...

This week, Retired Major General Jim Hoyer is joined by Brandon Downey, President, and CEO of Trilogy Innovations . Brandon holds over 25 years of experience in the tech industry in West Virginia and beyond. He shares his journey rising up as a kid from Charlestown to becoming the CEO and co-founder of one of the biggest tech companies in the state. General Hoyer and Brandon also discuss the futur...

At the Leadership Table with Retired Major General Jim Hoyer this week is the first woman chair of the Mountaineer Area Boy Scouts of America, Amy Garbrick . Amy has also served in important roles in higher education for nearly 20 years. Amy and the General discuss her leadership insights along with the roles scouting holds in building our communities and shared future in the Mountain State.   We...

In this episode General James Hoyer talks with Kenzie Hamilton the publisher of West Virginia Executive Magazine at the Leadership Table.  We learn about the farmer who grows the pumpkins for the Pumpkin House in Wayne County thanks to the WV Department of Agriculture.   Chef Paul Smith and Angie Settle of West Virginia Healthright unveil a new training program for those who want to enter the hosp...

September was Gold Star Family Awareness Month, and the last Sunday of September is recognized as Gold Star Mothers and Families Day in West Virginia. In honor of that, At the Leadership Table with General Hoyer this week are veteran advocates and Gold Star Parents Shirley and Stan White. They discuss what a Gold Star Family really is and offer insight into several important initiatives going on t...

September was Gold Star Family Awareness Month, and the last Sunday of September was recognized as Gold Star Mothers and Families Day in West Virginia. In honor of that, At the Leadership Table with General Hoyer this week are veteran advocates and Gold Star Parents Shirley and Stan White. They discuss what a Gold Star Family really is and offer insight into several important initiatives going on...

Major General Jim Hoyer talks with Mary Roush former WVU Mountaineer. She is young leader from Mason County. The WV Department of Ag provides great information on the Spotted Lantern Fly. Michael Susman talks with Senator Amy Grady about her softball career, her induction to the Mid-Ohio Valley Softball Hall of Fame and lessons learned. We hear from JJ Barrett WVU Extension Agent from Wood County...

At the Leadership Table with General Hoyer this week is Jenna Stewart, a young emerging leader focusing on evidence-based communication for public good in West Virginia. She shares insight from her work on projects to benefit West Virginians in her role as a graduate research assistant in the Public Interest Communication Research Laboratory at WVU. Behind the scenes, Jenna also holds a role in th...

At the Leadership Table with General Hoyer this week is Evan Bays, a leading subject matter expert in biometrics and Vice President of Engineering and Department of Justice Operations at IDEMIA National Security Solutions in Morgantown. Evan grew up in Elkview - a proud graduate of Herbert Hoover High School. Evan details his journey from participating in high school band, to being a part of The P...

On this week’s show General Hoyer talks with Kelsey Kirby about her new restaurant in Morgantown.   The Department of Agriculture Highlights a family farm in Baker West Virginia which received an award during the West Virginia State Fair.     Tom Susman replays some highlights from area fairs that were held this summer.   Bo Higby highlights a coming Family Fundamental Festival set for this weeken...

At the Leadership Table with General Hoyer this week is Kirk Copen, a Preston County native and Senior Director of Solutions at IDEMIA National Security Solutions in Morgantown. Kirk has worked in the tech industry for more than 20 years and wants our high school and college students to know that they can contribute to cutting-edge technology and national security from right here in the Mountain S...

This week General Hoye r sits down with Randy Cottle, president, and co-founder of Trilogy Innovations. Randy and his group are training the next generation of tech leaders who are helping to grow the booming tech economy in what he calls the “ Silicon Mountain ” – West Virginia’s counterpart to California’s Silicon Valley. This the full interview.

This week General Hoye r sits down with Randy Cottle, president, and co-founder of Trilogy Innovations. Randy and his group are training the next generation of tech leaders who are helping to grow the booming tech economy in what he calls the “ Silicon Mountain ” – West Virginia’s counterpart to California’s Silicon Valley.    The Agricultural Department highlights what the do at the state fair. ...

This week’s Appalachia episode has great segments:   At the leadership table this week General Hoyer sat down with Bray Skinner , a West Virginian veteran of the U.S. Navy and a kayaking and nature enthusiast who has braved waterways all over the globe. Bryar and the General talk about what it means to be a veteran pursuing higher education at Fairmont State using the GI Bill and what the outdoors...

FULL INTERVIEW WITH CHEF PAUL SMITH This week at the Leadership Table with Retired Major General Jim Hoyer is a truly inspirational guest. Chef Paul Smith was the 2023 West Virginian of the Year, and most recently, West Virginia’s very first J ames Beard Award winner (an award that’s like the Oscars of culinary arts, given for excellence in American cuisine). In his acceptance speech at the award...

This week at the Leadership Table with Retired Major General Jim Hoyer is a truly inspirational guest. Chef Paul Smith was the 2023 West Virginian of the Year, and most recently, West Virginia’s very first J ames Beard Award winner (an award that’s like the Oscars of culinary arts, given for excellence in American cuisine). In his acceptance speech at the award ceremony, Chef Paul started by sayin...

Welcome to this week’s edition of Appalachia Matters   At the Leadership Table with General Hoyer this week is Andrew Stover, an airman in the National Guard who helps refuel other planes while they are both in flight! Andrew is a university student, a volunteer with the Veterans History Project through the Library of Congress, and he’s a new dad!   He talks about the roles of time management and...

In this week’s show:   At the leadership table with General Hoyer this week is Kayla Stein , a Business and Communication Specialist at Trilogy Innovations. Originally from New York, Kayla came here for her education, and she came back to work and live in West Virginia after that. She says she knew that the Mountain State was a place where she could not only be comfortable and supported but also g...

This week’s Appalachia Matters is a great show packed with fantastic interviews.   General Hoyer sat at the Leadership Table with Amond Bailey, a young veteran who came from DC to the Mountain State for college at Marshall and hasn’t looked back. Amond is a Cyber Operations Officer with the West Virginia National Guard and National Leadership Fellow of the Student Veterans of America.   Tom Susman...

Special Taylor County Programs, Ag Department Roles, Work Force, and Float Trip on the Coal This week the Major General Jim Hoyer talks with Bryan Smith, an everyday West Virginian who has been helping to make big positive changes in his Taylor County community one person at a time, ranging from his work leading Project HOP2E (Helping Our People to Eat) and contributing to a local Farmer’s Market,...

In this episode Major General Jim Hoyer interviews Brad Price, we also have segment on a special Gold Star Moms project with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.  Our final segment is on how you can and preserve food for later use and hopefully reduce costs and improve the quality of your food.

This is a packed show with Major General Jim Hoyer talking leadership with Wally Hatfield, West Virginia Ag Commissioner Kent Leonhardt discusses Avian Flu in Dairy Cattle. In our health section we learn about ticks and other needed summer health tips.  In our final segment we talk about the rising cost of insurance.

In this week’s episode we will hear from Doctor Lisa Costello who is at the leadership table with retired Major General Jim Hoyer . In our agriculture segment we will learn about a meat producer from southeastern West Virginia and in our health section we learn about a special grade given Holzer Health. In our final segment we will celebrate the opening of the $35 million dollar expansion at Jacks...

Appalachia Matters is a weekly radio show highlighting life in Appalachia. Each week we have a segment on leadership from retired Major General Jim Hoyer, features highlighting agriculture in our region, health care updates from Tom Susman and our host Bo Higby each week highlights a story of community interest. The show is produced by Vandalia Media Partners.