The Bluefields'
environment welcomes business, industry and economic development.
Historically, coal was responsible for the area's early growth and
prosperity and is the economic base for the Bluefields of today.
Coal's continuing influence can be seen today in original equipment
manufacturers, including: Pemco,
Joy Mining Machinery, Inc. and others. Joy operates a service center
in the Bluefield, VA Industrial Park. Bluefield-based Rish
Equipment Company is a distributor of earth-moving and construction
equipment used throughout West Virginia, southwest Virginia and
eastern Maryland.
Diversity of the area's economy is
seen in such companies as Flower's Bakery, Bluefield Beverage and
Bluefield Gear & Machine/Industrial Plating Manufacturing. Retail and services, banking and the communications
industries are proof of a financially successful Bluefield economy.
Tourism
and retirement living are also growing areas in the Bluefields.
The Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce continues to be at the
forefront of growth and development of the area.
HEALTH
CARE
The
Bluefields are blessed with quality health care and plenty of opportunities
to keep fit through a first-class health and fitness center. Bluefield
is the medical center for the surrounding two-state, multi-county
coalfield region with two hospitals offering the latest diagnostic
and therapeutic technology.
Bluefield
Regional Medical Center is one of the largest health care facilities
in southern West Virginia. BRMC offers preventative medicine through
Bluefield Regional Wellness Center located in downtown Bluefield,
WV. The hospital provides emergency care which services
the entire region.
Professional
Imaging, Inc. provides BRMC and Princeton Community Hospital with
the latest in x-ray, cat scan and MRI imaging services. Community
Radiology, located in Bluefield, VA, also provides imaging services
to the Bluefield area.
Both
Bluefields are also serviced by extended nursing home facilities,
home health services, dentists, chiropractors, pharmacies, mental
health clinics, optometrists and opticians and two rescue squads.
The
Greater Bluefield Community Center provides facilities for exercise
buffs of all ages, including a competitive gymnastics program, indoor
swimming pool, racquetball and basketball courts, free weight room
and aerobic exercise rooms.
