By Jim Hunt for the News & Journal
One of the great things about my work is that I get to meet and engage with some truly
inspirational public servants. They are generally not the people you see in the headlines
every day, but rather, people who go about serving their citizens and making their cities
an enjoyable place to live. In small cities and towns, it is often a struggle to find people
willing to put their name on a ballot and endure the stress and strain that comes with
trying to provide services and balancing the budget in often difficult circumstances.
I had the opportunity to visit with one such public servant in the small town of Granville,
West Virginia. Granville is in Monongalia County and has a population of 1,384.
Granville’s mayor is Patty Lewis, and she has the distinction of being named the West
Virginia Municipal League’s 2024 Mayor of the Year. When we sat down to talk, I
immediately realized why she was chosen for this prestigious award. She has served as
mayor of her town for over 33 years and served as town recorder before that. She
understands the operation of her town, inside and out, and describes herself as a
“numbers girl.”
Historically, Granville depended on the coal industry, and many of the residents were
either employed in the mines or worked in businesses supported by the mines. When
the mines closed, the town suffered along with many of the residents. Not willing to let
the town go the way of many Appalachian communities, Mayor Lewis led the effort to
annex and provide municipal services to the University Town Centre development,
home to dozens of businesses, car dealerships, restaurants, supercenters, clothing
stores, housewares shops, and many others. This lifted the town’s spirits and finances,
allowing it to provide 24-hour police and fire protection for businesses and residents.
It also brought the Black Bears, a Major League Baseball Draft League team, which
plays in a multi-million-dollar stadium located in the town. The stadium also serves as
the home for the West Virginia University Mountaineer Baseball Team.
As I wrote in my new book, The Entrepreneurial City-Building Smarter Governments
Through Entrepreneurial Thinking, local leaders need to develop their brands and look
to opportunities to develop beneficial public-private partnerships to improve their quality
of life. Mayor Lewis and her team have worked to improve their social media pages and
websites to alert citizens and visitors of the activities and events in the town. While
improved finances have aided the town in its resurgence, the leadership and teamwork
have been critical to their success.
Granville is a shining example of entrepreneurial thinking in action. Mayor Lewis
embodies the kind of leadership that inspires progress, not just by managing what exists
but by envisioning what could be. Her story, like many in my book, demonstrates how
innovation, resilience, and strategic partnerships can transform challenges into
opportunities. For small towns and big cities alike, there’s a lesson to be learned from
Granville’s journey: when local leaders dare to think entrepreneurially, they can shape a
brighter future for their communities.