1980
1985
1984 Began working at
Mining Repair Specialists, Inc.
1987 Married Ronnie Barnette
1987 Purchased Mining
Repair Specialists, Inc.
“I believe giving back is
why we are put on this earth.
Rising tides lift all ships.”
1990
1995
1997 Graduated from
Southern WV Community
and Technical College
2000
2005
2006 Opened Fountain
Place Cinema 8
2010
2008 Elected to the Logan
County Chamber of
Commerce board of directors
2008 Opened Gatti’s Pizza
2011 Named the Women’s
Leadership Institute’s
Woman of the Year
2015
2015 Received the 2015
Miner’s Celebration
Community Investment Award
2018 Began construction
on Appalachian Outpost
and Rock Fort Cabins
2020
which has been very helpful in my entre-
preneurial endeavors. It also opened my
eyes to the real world and taught me about
accountability.”
Stubbornness gave this entrepreneur
wings, and when she and her husband
purchased their first company—Mining
Repair Specialists—in 1987, she learned
to fly. Mining Repair was a failing busi-
ness when they decided to buy it, but she
was certain they could turn it around.
Today, as the owner and vice president,
Barnette ensures the business remains on
strong footing by handling the account-
ing, human resources and general office
management on a day-to-day basis.
A serial entrepreneur, Barnette now
starts new businesses where she sees a
need. As such, she is the owner of Holy
Smoke Coal, owner and managing member
of MRS Manufacturing LLC and owner
of Lewisburg Cinema 8, Fountain Place
Cinema 8 and Gatti’s Pizza. Her newest
venture, Appalachian Outpost and Rock
Fort Cabins, is currently under construc-
tion and will turn an old strip mall in the
heart of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System
into cabins and retail space to support
the local ATV tourism industry.
“Everything we set out to do is because
there is a need,” says Barnette. “The
Appalachian Outpost and Rock Fort
Cabins will fill a void that exists for the
many ATV tourists who come to South-
ern West Virginia to enjoy our trails. By
diversifying into the tourism industry, we
are excited to help change the economic
outlook for our county and state.”
Barnette believes that being able to
provide jobs to her community has been
her greatest professional achievement,
and her motivation comes from being
able to help her community and her state.
Beyond creating businesses to meet local
needs and employ her neighbors, she also
actively participates with organizations
that share her desire to make the Moun-
tain State—and Logan County—a better
place to live.
Barnette is a member of the Women’s
Club of Logan, the West Virginia Hos-
pitality and Tourism Association board
and Holden Freewill Baptist Church,
where she has served as Sunday school
teacher and Ladies Aid president. She is
also a member and past president of the
Kiwanis Club of Logan and member and
treasurer of the Hatfield-McCoy Conven-
tion & Visitors Bureau board and Logan
County Chamber of Commerce board.
Barnette has a particular passion for
the Children’s Home Society of West
Virginia’s WeCan Program, where she has
worked as a camp counselor and served as
a past board member and where she con-
tinues to contribute to fundraising events.
“As a counselor, I tried to instill a sense
of value and high self-esteem in the chil-
dren,” she says. “I want them to know
they are valued and that they should set
the bar high.”
Her inspiration for giving back comes
from her favorite Bible verse, Luke 12:48,
which reads, “For unto whomsoever much
is given, of him shall be much required.”
She believes the people of West Virginia
are the best in the world, and she has a
heart for serving them.
“I believe giving back is why we are
put on this earth,” she says. “Rising tides
lift all ships.”
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