Governor’s Energy Summit comes to Stonewall Resort

ROANOKE, W.Va. (WBOY) — This week, Stonewall Resort is hosting the annual Governor’s Energy Summit, which looks to bring together local leaders to discuss solutions relating to energy innovation and sustainability in West Virginia.

According to Rashida Yost, the owner of Yost EduCare Corp., it was important for her to attend the summit “because we will see people from most parts of West Virginia, and even the neighboring states whose got a lot to offer to upgrade and also to promote West Virginia so that we can keep up with technology.”

Yost said she attended this event for the first time to engage with some members of the community. Despite not attending before, she said that there appears to be more people, companies, and technologies participating in this energy summit compared to previous years.

“I just see that we are very, very involved,” Yost said. “That’s the most important thing. When a state comes together, the people come together, companies come together, and for the betterment of the state, it’s just awesome.”

Yost said that as technology continues to move forward, it’s important for the state to remain up-to-date and knowledgeable so that West Virginia isn’t left behind. “As a lot of people think that West Virginia is in the medieval state, we’re not,” she said.

“We’re actually one of the most top ahead in technology, energy, and also solar power,” Yost said. “So, we’re not just about coal—we are, but we’re also about solar and open to other forms of energy. We work together, we collaborate.”

The event featured different panel discussions with local experts and also gave participants the opportunity to network and form partnerships with each other.

“There’s so many conversations that are involved and so many topics that are involved, and one of the things that I actually look forward to is how better we can collate the natural energy to the solar energy that we have,” Yost said.

Yost said that although she can’t vouch for solar energy 100%, she believes that it’s something new that has the potential for a lot of job opportunities. Overall, she described the event as “a very great form of networking.”