Wellsville chamber planning for the future

WELLSVILLE — The Rev. Bruce Ballantine has a dream.

The pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, in a message for Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, spoke of it.

“I have a dream of a Wellsville where new businesses are opening instead of closing,” he said. “I have a dream of a Wellsville in which abandoned homes are rehabilitated ... or torn down and new ones built in their place.”

He also spoke of a dream of economic growth, which is likely to happen.

The minister is also the president of the Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce, which is in an enviable situation: There’s a possibility of 4,000 construction jobs near the village of about 4,300 people.

But the chamber isn’t placing all of its economic plans on the proposed $5 billion coal-to-liquid fuel plant Baard Energy wants to build nearby along the Ohio River.

Chamber officials are working on a number of fronts. They are quick to point out a long list of other individuals and groups in the community are also working toward a rebirth of the area.

For more, see Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com