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August-September 2008
Making a Difference by Helping Businesses
 Karen Facemeyer
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Senator Karen Facemyer, Republican representative for Jackson, Mason, Putnam and part of Roane county didn’t start out wanting to be a politician. But one day in 1992, she was sitting with her husband watching her two boys play while reading the newspaper, when her husband voiced his uneasiness about the fact that there was no one in public office that was helping the small business person in West Virginia. It took Karen about two minutes to decide that she just couldn’t wait and hope that someone would be elected that had the small business person’s interest at heart. “I thought to my self, we’ll someone needs to do this and it might as well be me.”
Karen and her husband were both born and raised in West Virginia, but had moved to Ohio and lived there approximately 15 years, then moved back to West Virginia. When Karen made this momentous decision, she and her husband had just been back in the state for about four years.
“My background was in teaching. So, the only way I knew how to run for office was to run my campaign like I would run a Student Council election. I decided to give out small pine trees as a campaign gimmick for people to remember my name because my husband and I owned the local sawmill. I ran on the platform that everyone should have an equal say in how the government was run and that I wanted to represent the interests of small businesses,” she explained.
Karen hit it off with the voters and won the election. “This is kind of funny,” she said, “but I had never been to the State Capitol before. It was an eye-opening experience for someone who was ‘green’ to the political workings of a state. Again, I dung down to the roots of my educational system knowledge and began making friends at the Capitol with the custodians and other working employees there. Those friendships I still have today and those working people directed me to until I learned to navigate on my own in the Capitol. The next big experience for me was when I started receiving tons of mail addressed to the Honorable Karen Facemyer. At first, I wondered who that was and why they were addressing me that way. Then I learned about the history of the offices of the state and how the elected officials had been regarded in the early years when forming our state government. I guess I went there thinking that no one was trying to help the ‘little guys’ in business. But after about 2-3 months, I realized that everyone there had the best interest of the State of West Virginia in their mind, but approached resolving issues and conceptualizing ideas differently. I remember my first cabinet meeting. I, well how do I say this, I was ‘dumb-struck’, so I just listened, watched, and learned who was who. Now, I have been in office for sixteen years, and I have wonderful friends and associates and we all work cooperatively to do the best we can for the people of West Virginia,” she commented.
“My first year in office, there was a project that was happening in my county. It was a major project at Cedar Lakes. Not many people know that Cedar Lakes is owned by the Department of Education, not the Department of Tourism. Cedar Lakes was originally intended to be an educational facility for the state. At the time, there was not a hotel/lodge for people to stay except for some ‘bunkhouses’. I needed to raise the money to get a hotel or lodge built. This was my first floor speech and I was really scared. Then, supporters in the House and Senate began to help me understand what I had to do to get this project funded. We were asking for bonding, which I had no experience with at all. But, with everyone’s support and my sheer determination to make this project become a reality, we funded and built the current facilities at Cedar Lakes. Just last year, I made the proposal to pay off the lodge and retire the debt,” she continued.
“Probably the most important thing I can say to women is – register to vote and then vote. Try to be informed about who is running and how they see things and especially pay attention to what is important to them. Most people don’t understand that every women is touched everyday by something that been designated by a political vote, whether it be the amount of taxes you pay for personal property, the way businesses are run, food tax, school regulations, recreational opportunities, banning smoking in public places, seat belts laws, and job availability. The more knowledgeable you become, the better you make your own life,” she emphasized.
According to Karen, the hardest part of being in the political eye is the constant criticism because you can’t make everyone happy, but it is offset by making big things happen like what happened at Cedar Lakes down to making a few focused calls to help a dying person have a more comfortable bed during the last few weeks of her life.
Karen has been a part of the many important changes that West Virginia has seen over the last several years. Here is a woman who just wanted to help the small business person and didn’t place the responsibility on anyone else but herself -- who is now one of the State’s most well known and respected political leaders.
The women of West Virginia salute you, Karen, for your spirit and for endless hours you work to help each one of us have a better life.
Senator Karen Facemyer is the Republican representative for Jackson, Mason, Putnman and part of Roane counties. She is also the Executive Director at the Polymer Alliance Zone in Davisville, WV. You may reach Karen at 304 428 1622.
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