Ascending in the Mountain State
BY AMANDA LARCH | PHOTOS BY MARY BALDWIN
With a mission to drive the outdoor economy and grow the population of West Virginia, Ascend WV is a grant-based organization and remote worker talent attraction and retention program that has welcomed more than 270 new residents to the Mountain State since it was formally launched in April 2021.
Through a partnership between Brad and Alys Smith’s Wing 2 Wing Foundation, West Virginia University, and West Virginia Department of Tourism, the Outdoor Economic Development Collaboration (OEDC) was created, eventually leading to the Ascend program, according to Callie Isenberg, Greenbrier Valley Experience Coordinator for Ascend WV.
“The OEDC has a couple of different arms; I explain it like an umbrella, and Ascend is one spoke in that umbrella,” Isenberg says. “The whole idea is that Brad Smith wanted to invest in West Virginia in a way that would help make it more sustainable for people, for the environment, for our children.”
The Wing 2 Wing Foundation supplies the grant funding for the Ascend program, which was built to be a standout from other remote worker programs in the nation, says Alys Smith. Ascenders are given $12,000 in cash and other incentives, like free outdoor recreation, to move to the Mountain State.
“Ascend underscores West Virginia’s natural resources and its people, which are unparalleled by any other state,” Alys says. “We offer each Ascender more than $20,000 in incentives to move and to enjoy all that West Virginia offers.”
The Smiths knew the Mountain State’s beautiful outdoors are one of its best assets, with whitewater rafting, miles of walking, hiking, and biking trails, and climbing routes unlike anywhere else on the east coast. Incentives also include a free coworking space in each Ascend location.
“The idea is if we grow that outdoor economy, then we make jobs for people, we keep our young talent here, and we can grow our population again and grow the economy and make it more sustainable,” Isenberg says. “Ascend is part of that.”
Ascend’s goal is to bring remote workers to West Virginia with their own source of income, including expendable income to be spent in the state and outdoor economy, bringing in tax dollars for the state. Even bigger than that, says Isenberg, is they are bringing in people who want to find a place to call home, put down roots, and get involved in their community.
“When I look at the Ascenders, yes, hopefully they’re going to help grow the economy, but I work with them personally and these are people who are out there in community,” she says. “Lewisburg and the Greenbrier Valley are fantastic already, but they’re trying to make it even better and help with the vision of growing West Virginia’s population and economy.”
Morgantown is home to the first Ascend location in the state, and the Greenbrier Valley became the second location, with the first Ascenders arriving last year. It’s extra special, and personal, for Isenberg, as her husband was the first Ascender to arrive in the Greenbrier Valley. The family moved to the area in January 2022.
The Ascend Eastern Panhandle location opened in 2022, and Greater Elkins is now welcoming its first Ascenders. The fifth location will be opening in the New River Gorge, which spans from Summersville to Beckley with a central hub in Fayetteville.
Callie Isenberg
Isenberg was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, though she lived in Maryland most of her life and says she had no real history or ties to the Mountain State. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Isenberg was working as a high school science teacher and her husband had a marketing company, but it changed the trajectory of both their careers.
“We realized that while we loved living on the Chesapeake Bay and we had good friends and neighbors, but we didn’t have a big community,” she says. “We just didn’t feel like it was where we actually wanted to be. I think COVID brought that out for a lot of people, where they were in their lives.”
After buying a camper and living on the road for more than a year, Isenberg’s husband applied for the Ascend program. When they arrived in the Greenbrier Valley in the middle of winter, it was a little lonely, Isenberg says, but the previous Ascend coordinator stepped in to help them adjust, introducing them to people and giving them ideas for things to do.
“By the spring when more Ascenders were coming in, and when we were out and about and meeting people in the community, we felt we had made this amazing decision,” Isenberg says. “We’ve never felt more at home in a place in our lives. Both of us say that, and our kids would say the same thing.”
Within three months of living in the Greenbrier Valley, Isenberg says she and her family made a community.
“Ascend offered a lot of opportunities by the way of getting outside, getting to know the area and know what was around, (and) introducing us to people within and outside the organization,” Isenberg says. “It helps us grow this little bubble that just keeps expanding.”
This year, everything came full circle for Isenberg as she became the Ascend coordinator; she started just a week shy of her family’s anniversary of living in Lewisburg.
Meet up for the monthly, First Friday community bike ride.
“I’ve learned so much more about what their overall goals are and what they’re trying to achieve in West Virginia, and I feel really lucky that I get to be a part of the organization both in my life and now in my career,” she says.
“The Ascend program has received more than 30,000 applications statewide since the start of the program, and each area continues to accept applications on a rolling basis. Candidates can rank their preference in any of the locations and their applications are considered for the location of their choice as spots become available in the future. The door is always open to apply to Ascend WV.”
Requirements for applicants include remote work, but Isenberg says another important factor they are looking for is people who enjoy the outdoors and who are willing to get involved—in the Ascend community and the larger community.
There are also a wide variety of Ascenders, from people as young as 25 to people in their late 50s and early 60s, from singles and families to married couples.
“So really, we’re looking for interesting people who have a little bit of an adventurous spirit and are willing to get out and do something brand new and in the end hopefully stay in West Virginia,” Isenberg says. “That’s the real goal.”
On July 12, Ascend Greenbrier Valley welcomed the community to an Open House at its coworking space. With 22 Ascend members plus their significant others and family members in the Greenbrier Valley’s first cohort, there will be an additional 13 Ascenders and their families moving to the area by the end of September.
After Ascend employees review and interview applicants, they send letters of invitation to selected candidates. Once they accept, they have an opportunity to come to West Virginia to visit the location themselves as well as communicate with Ascenders who are already established.
“They give them tips and tricks on things that worked for them,” Isenberg says. “Part of my job is to find rentals, realtors, landlords and host things. We also have our own internal portal, almost like Facebook for Ascend, so they can go on and they can see anything that’s there.”
Ascend personnel do everything they can to assist during the relocation process, and part of Isenberg’s job is to set up events, ranging from social mixers to outdoor activities. For the Greenbrier Valley, Isenberg organizes bike rides on the Greenbrier River Trails and whitewater rafting and camping trips.
“We’re here to them acclimate to the area,” Isenberg says. “All those things help them get to know each other and then get out into the community to see more of the town and visit some of our local businesses.
“I love that they’re very focused on an employee’s happiness and being able to choose and work from either the office or from home,” she says.
Ascenders are also getting involved in community service and volunteering for organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, and some Lewisburg cohort members even created the Greenbrier Valley Off Road Biking Association, pushing toward building the trail system out, to make it safer for people on bikes, Isenberg says.
“There are a lot of things that our members are doing out in the community that are pretty fantastic,” she says.
With her background of teaching biology while living in the Chesapeake Bay, Isenberg says Ascend has been a great fit for her, and one aspect of the program she enjoys most is what it stands for: the environment and growing West Virginia’s population.
“I came from teaching biology and my heart was focused on the Chesapeake Bay and the sustainability of the ecosystem and the economy and our social culture, and I feel like the Ascend family is trying to do all of that for West Virginia,” she says.
