Judges - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

An independent panel of judges from throughout West Virginia selected the people being honored this year as Who's Who in West Virginia Business.

Those judges — Robin Capehart with West Liberty University, Jennifer Casey with Fox Engineering, Nancy Kissinger with Chase Bank, Marc Monteleone with Bowles Rice McDavid Graff and Love LLP and Rick Slater with Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP — had the challenging task of picking just eight Who's Who awardees and one Lorenelle White Lifetime Achievement Award winner out of more than 75 nominations.

"We can't thank the judges enough for dedicating their time and energy to the Who's Who program," said Beth Gorczyca Ryan, managing editor of The State Journal. "Many worthy business leaders were nominated for this honor, and all five of the judges took their job very seriously.

In particular, judges looked for business leaders who showed an entrepreneurial spirit, a dedication to their community and skills in overcoming challenges. 

Judges couldn't have done their job, however, without the help of the nominators who filled out forms online to share the stories of men honored this year. The nominators included everyone from the honorees' business partners and peers to friends and family members.

"On behalf of The State Journal, I thank everyone who took the time to nominate someone for the 2012 Who's Who in West Virginia Business award and the Lorenelle White Lifetime Achievement Award," Ryan said. "Sometimes business leaders are too humble or busy to talk about how they are making a difference in the state. But these are precisely the people we need to honor — the ones who give back to their communities, hire fellow West Virginians and work toward a better state without the expectation of anything in return."