"Water Man" Timmy Cowan, with help from neighbors needing hauled water, saw a way to do well by doing good in West Virginia. This video is part of a new occasional series on WVStrong.org, "Making It In the Mountain State."

West Virginians’ reputation for hard work knows no gender. A West Virginia construction union is working to put more women on the job. One woman says she likes working in construction so well she wishes she’d started sooner. 

Savannah "Hot Wheels" Watson has been a loyal, caring and beloved volunteer at Huntington High School. But she is saying farewell as she rolls forward into a new chapter in her life.

Thanks to the hard work of local growers, the Lincoln County Farmers Market is back after a tough year that saw them lose their founding member. It took a lot of effort and spirit for the market to rebound, but community spirit revived a community asset, as described in this June 4, 2019, story by the WV Community Development Hub..

Hard-working folks are found across West Virginia. The state’s work ethic is part of its people's character. But how often are they honored with a celebration for how much they're valued? Custodian Francis Buzzard at Belle Elementary in Belle, W.Va., had a very special day in January 2018. This video, originally created for the Charleston Gazette-Mail by WVStrong contributor Douglas John Imbrogno, is the first in a series of WVStrong.org profiles called ‘Making it in the Mountain State.’

One of the biggest things keeping West Virginians from enjoying the freedom our state motto “Mountaineers are Always Free” promises are the poor economic conditions that plague our state. While some politicians are quick to offer sweetheart deals to out of state corporations to bring low-paying jobs in, the real game changers are going to be those West Virginians who start their own businesses, and overtime grow those businesses to be job creators and contribute to the local small town economies.

One of West Virginia's most valuable resources is it's people. We're hard workers and incredibly resourceful. While job markets in the mountain state are shaky at best, it's the work ethic of our population that will earn the respect of national job creators and bring new jobs and opportunities to West Virginia.

While the issue of teacher pay took center stage in most coverage of the 2018 WV Teachers Strike, those on the picket lines were also very concerned about the rising cost and restrictive policies of their PEIA Healthcare Coverage, and with good reason. It's hard to live a full and free life, when you don't even have the freedom to be keep yourself healthy.

Wheeling West Virginia – Garrett Kaldor is a pipeline worker and a member of Local 18 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Ask him why he crossed the river from his home in Ohio to see President Donald Trump in Wheeling, and he has a simple answer.

I was in an archery shop in a West Virginia town that sees more than its share of poverty. There is a gas station, a Dollar General, and a hunting shop. Probably a bar and mechanic as well, but I didn’t see either. Maybe the mechanic was at the bar.