Candice Helms won’t take no for an answer in Summers County revitalization efforts
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV
In 2015, Candice Helms moved from Austin, Texas, to Hinton, West Virginia. Austin is a hip, boom town where everyone wants to be these days. Just this week, Elon Musk announced plans to relocate some of his businesses there. But Candice sees it differently.
“Don’t get me wrong; I loved my time in Austin,” she says. “But Austin wishes they had what Hinton has.”
So what is it that Hinton has?
“It’s such a beautiful life here,” she says. “You can go for a hike while you’re working! Where else can you do that? Summers County has great momentum.”
And while Candice has been part of building that momentum over the last nine years, she’s now taking on a new role as Executive Director of the New River Gateway Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (also known as Explore Summers County).
The power of saying yes
“When we moved here, I said yes to everything,” Candice remembers. “So I got involved in a lot of things.”
Over the last nine years, she’s worked as Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Hinton and four terms with Americorps via the Preservation Alliance of WV.
“Those jobs let me take the lead on the things I thought were needed in the area,” she explains. “They were up for anything that brought the community together. They trusted me to paint murals, pickup little, river cleanup, kid’s runs, anything that connected people for good.”
She also served on the CVB board since 2021, working under the director of the previous Executive Director, Rebecca Peterson.
“Rebecca did such great work for the past seven years,” she says. “And the board has welcomed me with open arms. It’s so empowering to feel like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
The ‘dinner table’ approach to leadership
Candice plans to bring the same approach to her new role as Executive Director which has guided her for years. “I want us all to sit down at the dinner table together.”
What does that mean? “We need capacity. We need people. We need volunteers. We’re going to get that by partnering with our neighbors. We’re not in competition. This is our tribe, all of southern West Virginia. We all need to sit down at the dinner table together.”
Candice hopes to work on specific projects like expanding tourism, adding daily train service, taking advantage of outdoor recreation opportunities, and marketing Summers County to urban remote workers. “I’m really excited about this,” she shares, saying it’s a great opportunity for her and her son, who goes with her everywhere.
“It’s such a beautiful life,” she says, “and it just keeps working out.”
For more info on the New River Gateway CVB, visit www.exploresummerscounty.com.
