Martins Ferry Chamber Director Alecia Hill hoping to bring back businesses to the city
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By CARRI GRAHAM
MARTINS FERRY - Martins Ferry Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Alecia Hill is hoping to make a difference in the community by helping the city flourish by supporting old and welcoming new businesses.
Hill, 40, has been the executive director since January 2021. Her work involves a lot of social media networking as well as venturing into the community to meet with people one-on-one.
"I'm there for whatever the businesses of Martins Ferry need. I promote the businesses and try to get people in town to open up businesses. That, mixed with Project Forward, is our goal to make Martins Ferry a place where people want to come and open up shops," she said, adding that not only is the city a nice place to be but it is more affordable to open up new stores.
"Promoting our area businesses is the heart of this job and one that I enjoy doing. We offer our lunches, Business After Hours, and started a morning event called Beans & Business to give our members a chance to mingle together and see what is new with the other businesses in the community. There has been a shift to social media in recent years, so I check in with that often to make sure everyone knows of all the great things happening in the area. An important part of this position is also getting out in the community to get to know our business owners, hearing what they need from me and would like to see happen in our town. This is something I look forward to doing more of in 2023."
Hill has always lived in the Ohio Valley. She was born in Wheeling, grew up in Martins Ferry and then St. Clairsville. As an adult she lived in Bridgeport before returning to the city of Martins Ferry in 2014 where she now resides with her husband, Tyler, and their three sons, Brady, Parker and Jackson.
"I like the Ohio Valley. I like living in the Ohio Valley. I've lived here my whole life," she said.
"This is where everything is for me. My whole family is here so I never really saw a reason to leave."
Hill said the people of the Ohio Valley make the area a great place to live - a tight knit community.
"We're one of the friendlier areas," she said.
"I like being able to see people that I know all the time. ... It's a small area and people know things about each other. I like that everybody knows everybody and I like the small town feel. I don't think I would really like being in a big city where there's so many people and you might not get that friendly aspect."
Once Hill became the executive director of the city chamber, she also inherited the title as executive director of Project Forward, an organization that aims to bring attention to what the downtown has to offer by holding events such as Winterfest and the Strawberry Festival. She is also the treasurer of the Martins Ferry Civics.
"I have a friend that says, 'it’s nice to be nice,' and she’s absolutely right. With the different organizations I am a part of I get to see firsthand what kindness and a little bit of extra effort can do for a community. It’s exciting to see so many positive things happening in our area and I’m proud to be a small part of it," she said.
Her work with both the chamber and Project Forward involve furthering community relations and helping to revitalize the city.
"I hope to bring Martins Ferry back to the flourishing community that it used to be. When Picoma was here and when Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel was here, Martins Ferry was bigger. There was more going on, more businesses in town. I'm hoping, not just our organizations but with the help of other civic organizations in town, that we can restore Martins Ferry to what it used to be and make it the place where people want to come not only to open up a business but to go to the businesses that are here in town," she said.
Hill said a good piece of advice is to never give up.
"If you get shot down at first, don't let that hinder you from going. You don't usually get it on the first try. It takes time. Sometimes you have to fail multiple times before you succeed and that's how you learn things," she added.
Hill said many things, both good and bad, have helped shape who she is in her career.
"To be successful with anything you have to be able to pivot and try something else when you have a setback. I have learned to be flexible because things are not always going to go the way you want or think they will go. I celebrate the wins and losses equally because you are able to learn something from both," she said.