One-of-a-kind facility in Lizemores supports Soldiers, national security
Lizemores, WV – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) visited the Civil-Military Innovation Institute (CMI2) Adaptive Experimentation Facility at Fort Andrew on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
CMI2 founder Dr. Zenovy Wowczuk and Vice President of Experimentation and Training Walter “Wally” Hatfield guided Sen. Capito and staff members on a tour of its Clay County, West Virginia facility.
In early March 2024, CMI2 announced a relocation of the Fort Andrew facility from its original location to a larger area within Clay County. The move followed increased customer demand for a larger footprint and additional specialized facility capabilities.
Capito arrived at the site Tuesday morning and toured the new Fort Andrew, including the Base Camp/Operations Center structure, which was originally an apple processing facility and orchard. The 14,000-square-foot structure will house equipment, offices, vehicles, and innovation maker space. She also toured the construction site of the future office and meeting facility, which will be completed in early spring 2025.
“Senator Capito has had a significant role in making this one-of-a-kind technology experimentation facility in West Virginia a reality,” said Dr. Zenovy Wowczuk, founder of CMI2. “Ultimately, this facility will benefit Soldiers, small businesses, and individuals developing national security and commercial technologies that will directly impact our military readiness and protecting our domestic borders.”
Sen. Capito met individuals hired following the AEF Summer Internship program as part of her tour. Since 2023, CMI2 has hired over 30 local interns from Clay County. Of those, four individuals moved into full-time positions, and 11 interns from the 2024 summer program have transitioned to work-study/on-the-job training for potential full-time hiring opportunities with CMI2. Currently, there are over a dozen full-time employees at the Fort Andrew facility, and CMI2 is actively recruiting both local talent and prospective employees from outside the state to relocate to the area.
In addition to creating jobs, CMI2 has engaged local vendors and businesses in and around Clay County as it invests in the construction of the AEF.
Wowczuk emphasized this in his comments to Sen. Capito: “The AEF will continue to be a major economic engine for Clay and Nicholas Counties, and ultimately the entire State of West Virginia. We want to hire locally. We have and we will continue to do so.”
