Brandon Dennison
Founder and CEO, Coalfield Development
BRANDON DENNISON was just a child when
his roots began to influence his destiny.
“Growing up, when I would travel on
family vacations or to Boy Scout camp,
people would act sorry for me when I told
them I was from Southern West Virginia,”
he remembers. “This confused me because
I had a great childhood.”
Dennison remembers the painful poverty
he bore witness to all around him in
the Mountain State. As a high school
student he dreamed of running for office
so he could help his people. “In time,
I learned the real change agents work
from the bottom up,” he says. “The real
creativity comes from community, not
big speeches.”
While in college, he served as a church
youth director, which instilled in him a
strong passion for social justice. It also
introduced him to Pastor Randy Tremba,
his mentor. The two facilitated service
trips together, visiting Native American
reservations, inner city soup kitchens
and apple orchards worked by migrants.
While these trips were deeply inspiring,
Dennison realized he could have a bigger
impact at home.
The last service trip proved to be the
most impactful. The destination was
Williamson, WV, and what came of this
visit changed the course of many lives.
“We were doing home repair volunteer
work, and two young men approached
us,” he recalls. “They asked if we had
work available. I explained that we were
volunteers, and they went on their way.
It felt like such a minor moment, but it
stayed with me. It represented a primary
problem we face in Southern West Virginia:
we have people who want to work and
learn and be part of something. We have
gumption, but because our communities
are so distressed and depressed, there are
no opportunities to apply that gumption.”
Dennison acted on this realization by
creating Coalfield Development, the parent
company of a family of social enterprises
in Wayne, WV, that are taking the lead
on building a new economy in Southern
West Virginia. To date, Coalfield Devel-
opment has created more than 120 on-the-
job training positions and more than 800
professional certification opportunities,
redeveloped more than 175,000 square
feet of dilapidated property and success-
fully launched 11 new businesses in real
estate development, construction, wood
working, agriculture and artisan trades.
Being a leader and a visionary is hard
work, but Dennison finds motivation in
those around him.
“Meetings and administrative challenges
get me down, but when I spend time with
our crew, I get re-energized,” he says. “These
are people overcoming the oppressive pain
of poverty to realize their full potential.
They inspire me every day.”
In his spare time, Dennison lends his
time, talent and treasure to volunteer
projects. He serves on the board of
directors for the Big Laurel Learning
Center, which supports environmental
education for youth, and the Hunting-
ton Regional Chamber of Commerce
board of directors, where he is active with
the workforce development committee.
He also sits on the advisory board for the
Marshall University School of Business
iCenter, which works to increase entre-
preneurial activities in Southern West
Virginia, and the advisory board for
the West Virginia Affordable Housing
Trust Fund. He is a fellow of Ashoka, an
international organization that promotes
social entrepreneurship, and as a graduate
of Shepherd University, he is active with
the alumni network and collaborates with
university departments to create volunteer
experiences for students.
He credits his faith with the successes
he’s experienced, and he measures his ac-
tions, in part, by whether they honor his
ancestors: Appalachians of lifetimes past.
“These are the pathfinders,” he says.
“These are the tough mountain women
who worked the land and the war veter-
ans. These are the pastors, shop owners
and musicians. They are the essence
of Appalachia. They lived full lives in
Appalachia, and the way to honor them
is to live as fully as I can.”
Dennison in front of the 42-foot World
War I Memorial Arch in Huntington.
“Imagination is more
important than knowledge.”
– Albert Einstein
JENNIFER JETT PREZKOP
TRACY TOLER
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