More than 40 to travel to China
Many of those going on trip with Manchin are coal executives
Byline: George Hohmann, Daily Mail Business Editor
More than 40 West Virginians will participate in Gov. Joe Manchin's trade mission to China late this month.
The West Virginia Development Office on Tuesday released a revised, final list of expected participants. It shows the delegation includes 27 executives with coal equipment companies, eight state employees, three West Virginia University employees, two lawyers, one banker and one reporter. Several spouses also are scheduled to make the trip.
State employees scheduled to travel with Gov. Manchin and first lady Gayle Manchin: Larry Puccio, chief of staff; Steve Spence, executive director of the state development office; Debra Martin, international trade manager in the development office; and Caitlin Ashley, international trade representative in the development office; and state troopers Sgt. Michael Comer and Cpl. James Light.
Several coal equipment companies or companies that make related equipment are sending several executives.
Representing Swanson Industries of Morgantown will be Tom DeWitt, managing director, and Sharon DeWitt; Mark Carter, vice president; Jonathan McClung, operations manager; and Tom Hutchinson, engineer.
Phillips Machine Service Inc., Beckley, is sending Jack Phillips, president; Bruce Dickerson, vice president of operations; Roger Phillips, international parts manager; and P.L. "Judge" McWhorter, consultant.
Superior Highwall Miners is sending John Olsen, chief operating officer, Beckley; Pieter-Jan Kleiterp, mining engineer, The Netherlands; and Rob Jaan Klein Bog, international sales, The Netherlands.
Representing Kanawha Scales & Systems of Poca will be William McHale, vice president, and Carol McHale, as well as Yao Yuwen, director of international operations.
SafeMiner Inc. is sending Greg Henthorn, president, of Charleston; James Hsiao, executive director of international relations, of North Haven, Conn.; and Bai Hao, president of Chinese operations, Beijing.
Cogar Mine Supply of Beckley is sending Lowell Cogar, president, and Betty Cogar, as well as John Cogar, vice president of operations. Preiser Scientific of St. Albans is sending John Arthur Gatens Jr., vice president, and Kevin Westfall, engineering manager.
Tabor Machine Co. of Princeton is sending Jerry Sauers, sales manager, and John Casey, sales. Marsh Bellofram is sending Joe Colletti, president, of Newell; and Frank Li, general manager, Asia Pacific, of Shanghai.
Other coal-related travelers include Ben Statler, executive chairman of PinnOak Resources and Jo Statler, Canonsburg, Pa.; Larry Howe, international sales manager, J.H. Fletcher Co., Huntington; and Chris Hamilton, senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association and Linda Hamilton, Charleston.
Participating from West Virginia University are Qingyun Sun, research assistant professor in the Natural Resource Analysis Center and Resource Management Department; William Riley, director of the Center for Chinese Business in the College of Business and Economics; and Victor Chow, professor of finance in the College of Business and Economics.
Lawyers scheduled to make the trip are Ellen Cappellanti, chair of the Business and Commercial Law Section at JacksonKelly, Charleston; and Tom Heywood, assistant managing partner at Bowles, Rice, McDavid Graff & Love, Charleston.
The banker planning to make the trip is Mark Prince, managing director and West Virginia chief executive officer of JP Morgan Chase Bank, Charleston. The reporter making the trip is Scott Finn of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Charleston.
The development office has said that Manchin plans to stop in Shanghai, where he hopes to meet with alumni of the West Virginia University Center for Chinese Business and where he also hopes to tour a major coal-to-liquids plant.
Manchin also will visit Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, which is China's major coal-producing region. His last stop will be Beijing, where he will participate in the opening ceremonies at the China Coal & Mining Exposition.
Riley and Chow of WVU will only participate in the trip's visit Shanghai. Some of the coal equipment executives will only participate in the coal & mining show in Beijing.
The trip is from Oct. 30 to Nov. 10.
Contact writer George Hohmann at business @dailymail.com or 348-4836.