By: Katie WolpertNovember 1, 2022

New Job Posting: Mon Forest Towns Executive Director

The Mon Forest Towns Partnership (MFTP) was formed to cultivate collaborative relationships across land and forest gateway communities. MFTP’s mission is to grow a strong, sustainable recreational economy that enhances the quality of life for residents and visitors to the Monongahela National Forest region by providing the best outdoor experience.

Our communities and partners seek to build and maintain a strong economy that thrives off sustainable recreation, tourism, and healthy landscapes while preserving each town’s character. The Partnership is ready to build off its recent successes to develop a sustainable partnership framework, build capacity, and work toward achieving the goals of its recently adopted strategic plan.

To facilitate the work, MFTP has secured funding for its first Executive Director (ED) position to start as soon as a qualified candidate is identified to lead a dynamic group of community leaders, partners, and entrepreneurs to fulfill the Partnership’s mission in the region. The ED will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for the fledgling organization. The position is grant-funded for 3 years. It is the responsibility of the ED and the MFTP to develop a sustainable revenue model in that time to sustain the position long-term. The position will report to the MFTP’s Executive Committee and Woodlands Development & Lending’s Director of Programs & Partnerships.

Executive Director Job Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership and Partnerships
● Develop, maintain, and support a strong Partnership Board; serve as ex-officio of each committee; seek and build board involvement with strategic direction
● Oversee and report on the organization’s results to the Partnership Board
● Provide leadership to and manage the efforts of service provider partners to ensure effective and efficient regional collaboration and to support MFTP strategic plan implementation
● Provide strategic marketing and communications oversight

Resource Development and Management
● Develop plan and expand local revenue generating and fundraising activities to support the work of the MFTP.
● Identify and spearhead grant applications and grant management to support project planning and implementation.

Program Planning, Implementation, and Management
● Plan (in collaboration with the Partnership Board and committees), organize, and direct the organization’s programs and operations.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. A mutually agreed upon work plan will be developed between the preferred candidate and the Executive Committee. The MFTP Board reserves the right to modify any and all job descriptions based upon the needs of the MFTP.

Executive Director Qualifications / Skills:

Bachelors’ Degree required. Nonprofit management/leadership experience and/or an equivalent degree of experience related to the duties and responsibilities specified in this description.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
● Demonstrated leadership capability
● Ability to develop, implement, evaluate both strategic and operational plans
● Experience working with governmental entities and government contracts
● Grant writing and grants management experience
● Strong written and verbal communication skills
● Complex project management experience
● Ability to work effectively independently
● Ability to travel throughout the Mon Forest region regularly and as needed

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
● Entrepreneurship/business development experience.
● Marketing, communications, and social media experience

Work Hours & Compensation:
The full-time equivalent position (37.5 hours per week) provides a generous benefit package through Woodlands Development & Lending, which includes payment toward health insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacation days, family and medical leave, holidays, and retirement matching. Salary will be commensurate with experience in the range of $40,000-50,000.

The position is remote with the flexibility to work from home and with satellite working spaces available at different locations in Mon Forest Town communities as needed. The candidate is, however, required to reside within the Monongahela National Forest region.


Interested? Please email a resume and cover letter to Emily Wilson-Hauger at [email protected] with the subject line ‘MFTP Executive Director application’.

Applications accepted until Wednesday, November 30, 2022 or until a qualified candidate is identified.

Stories

Norton’s Ultimate Small Business

Jeff Strahin, now-owner of Jeff’s Ultimate Grill, came to Woodlands in 2020 through the Mon Forest Business Initiative. Jeff, a veteran of the US Navy, had been living in ...

Read More
Stories

The World Needs More Dale’s Trails

Tucker County, WV is known across the country as a mountain bike destination. With a thriving community of riders, endless miles of trails, and a growing group of local support ...

Read More
Stories

Tygart Hotel Project on Track to Begin Reconstruction in Early 2022

Key partners and investors meet at Tygart property to discuss plans for the iconic and historic Elkins property. [09.29.2021] A group of local business owners, nonprofit organization leaders, and ...

Read More
News

Firefly Commons Apartments Completed

Our new Firefly Commons project in Elkins is complete and fully leased. The 16-unit development is made up of six duplexes and a 4-unit townhome. After many years of ...

Read More
Stories

Local Bank Support Critical to CDFI Success

As a CDFI focused on small business development, Lenders is a complement to local banks’ loan programs, not a competitor. Hoy Ferguson, President of Davis Trust Company in Elkins ...

Read More
Stories

“I’m Very Particular About My Fish”

John Bell, owner and operator of Johnny B’s Campground in southern Randolph County, takes his fishing ponds very seriously. The central feature of a multi-faceted property, his three fishing ...

Read More
Stories

TipTop Of The Iceberg: Leveraging Funding into Large Local Investment

TipTop no longer needs us. The business now has the resources and collateral to qualify for conventional financing. But back in 2012, when Cade and Carrie Archuleta were purchasing ...

Read More
Stories

How To Make a Big Impact with Small Lending

Carla and Jason Kaposy felt compelled to make an investment that could be pivotal in spurring economic development in their hometown of Petersburg, a Mon Forest Town in Grant ...

Read More
News

Invest Appalachia Announces $19M in New Funding

Invest Appalachia (IA) has announced $19M of new investment in a fund to provide capital to community economic development projects. Focused on increasing investment in Appalachia overall, 90% of ...

Read More
News

Small Business Solutions for Barbour County

Woodlands is excited to be taking part in a new group created to support existing and encourage new small businesses in Barbour County. While the group’s objectives will be ...

Read More
Stories

The Slow Rescue of the Opera-less Opera House of Thomas, WV

feature image courtesy Alpine Heritage Preservation Imagine you are an enterprising settler in the highest and wildest part of the WV wilderness in the early 1890s. The booming coal ...

Read More
Stories

New Units Opening on the Banks of the Blackwater River

Woodlands Development and Lending is excited to open the doors to tenants at the new Blackwater Avenue apartments in Davis, WV in early 2022. This community complex of 8 ...

Read More
News

Tygart Hotel Artwork to Honor Lost Towns of the Monongahela National Forest

We are excited to announce “Lost Towns/Lost Communities” a collaboration with West Virginia artists to create artwork for the Tygart Hotel exploring five ghost towns in the Monongahela National ...

Read More