PARSONS, W.Va. The announcement that Virgin would be building the certification center for its new hyperloop technology came to the area back in October. While construction may still be months and months away, staff with the company explained that theyre already looking to support its new home.

Hyperloop is really focused on being a positive part of the community and working together to make the certification center a success for the locals, the state, and then globally, said Project Development Lead Kelsey Kirby.

With that in mind, Kirby spoke at the regular meeting of the Tucker County Commission on Wednesday to talk about what the new project has to offer the county and the wider region. Commission President Lowell Moore said hes looking forward to many new jobs in the area.

After theyre up and running, I think a lot of it will be in the engineering department, but West Virginia is going to do a lot too. The colleges and West Virginia University, I think that will draw in a lot of our students from them, and I think itll make employment for them to where they can stay in West Virginia rather than go out of state, said Moore.

And thats a goal that many people share around the state. Kirby is a West Virginia native herself. She said the new facility would go a long way towards helping students see the different career paths available to them without leaving their home state.

We are very excited about the opportunity that hyperloop presents to the young people really excited about STEM. And so certainly one of the things thats a personal passion and one of many of the engineers on the hyperloop team is to share that excitement around science and education, said Kirby.

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Virgin Hyperloop and Tucker County Commission discusses the benefits and progress of the project - WBOY.com