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BUSINESS
Technology company recognized in speech
Second Creek Technologies, a Barboursville-based information technology company, was mentioned in Governor Joe Manchin's State of the State address on Wednesday. Technician West Virginia native Todd Nessel, pictured at right with chief technology officer Art Hand, center, and chief executive officer John Sammons, returned to his home state for a career in the technology field after spending the past 25 years working in Detroit, Michigan. Governor Manchin said the state needs more people like Nessel, who are willing to come back home to pursue their careers.
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HUNTINGTON -- Todd Nessel isn't quite sure how he, and the company he works for, wound up in West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's State of the State address Wednesday.
Not that he's complaining.
"I'm still trying to figure it out," he said with a laugh on Thursday.
Nessel was cited by Manchin Wednesday as an example of a high-level employee who returned to his home to work, something the governor said West Virginia needs to happen more often.
A Barboursville native, Nessel had lived in the Detroit area for the past 25 years, spending most of that time working in information technology.
He recently returned to his hometown to work for Second Creek Technologies, a company that specializes in all kinds of information technology fields, from web design to computer forensics to electronic discovery in civil and criminal litigation. The company has a wide customer base, from local businesses to clients in places such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore or as far away as Iowa.
"My son is in college now, and I'm enrolled in the master's program at Marshall in environmental science," Nessel said. "The timing was just right. Although I never dreamed I'd be working a block from where I went to high school."
Art Hand, a partner with Second Creek, said Nessel's history was mentioned to a member of the Department of Commerce, who was attending one of the seminars the business conducts on continuing legal education.
"They just happened to strike up a conversation where Todd was mentioned, and it came up that the governor was looking to highlight people like that," Hand said.
It turned out to be a nice plug for Nessel and the business.
"That's a fantastic thing," he said. "You never imagine you're going to get an opportunity like that."
