HINTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia town with about 2,500 people might seem like an unlikely place for a nationally known, Internet-based business, but Ken Allman says his hometown of Hinton and his business, PracticeLink, continue to be good for one another.
Allman's business started humbly in his St. Louis apartment in 1994. He moved it to Hinton within the first few years. Since then, it has grown into the largest job bank for physicians in the country.
These days the website gets more than 200,000 visitors a month from job seekers, recruiters and employers.
Allman said moving the business back to Summers County was out of necessity and a desire to stay connected to his hometown. The nature of the business meant that he could have chosen anywhere to do it. Renting a space in a bigger city would have increased costs considerably, though.
"The entire thing was a bootstrap from the very beginning. [We're] self-funded and [there were] never outside investors to support PracticeLink," Allman said.
Hinton serves as headquarters for the business. There are two satellite locations, in St. Louis and Louisville, Kentucky. Allman, his wife Julie and their new son live in St. Louis and spend time in Hinton.
In what might seem like a counterintuitive move, in 2009, the company acquired a Louisville, Kentucky-based print publication that it rebranded as PracticeLink magazine. The publication goes out to 85,000 medical residents each quarter. In 2014, the magazine was named publication of the year by the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors,
"For me, everything is counterintuitive," Allman said of the website acquiring a print publication. "I think it's a matter of execution."
The Kentucky office serves as the communications and marketing office for the business. St. Louis houses the software and technology departments. They are in St. Louis because it initially was difficult to recruit software programmers and developers to Hinton, he said.
"Software professionals are in high demand, and they're hard to recruit anywhere," Allman said. "I think that, to shift our focus in that area to St. Louis was kind of out of necessity at the time. Now that we've established a strong hub there, I'm hoping that we can bring some of those jobs back to Hinton."
As much as Hinton has been good for Allman and PracticeLink, they have been good for the town, too.
What started as a way of giving PracticeLink employees and clients a place to stay while they do business in Hinton has turned into a piece-by-piece re-do and revitalization of the town's historic district.
"We've just been making incremental improvements for the last 15 years," Allman said of his company, MountainPlex. "We've taken on one major project a year for the last 10 years and committed ourselves to that project. And they all complement one another."
First was the Guesthouse Inn on Courthouse Square, a historic house next to the PracticeLink office that MountainPlex bought for company use but then opened to the public. The Guesthouse has expanded to offer visitors suites, a town house and even a cabin on the river that is accessible only by boat.
There's also the Market on Courthouse Square, a sandwich shop; Otter & Oak, an outdoor store and art gallery; and the McCreery Conference & Event Center, set in the historic Hotel McCreery building. The company also has restored the Ritz Theatre and Performing Arts Center, which was built in 1929. The Ritz also houses two radio stations the company owns and operates.
"Hinton is one of the largest historic districts in the country," Allman said. "There are 16 square blocks that are part of the Hinton National Historic District and very little economic development had focused on that."
Allman and MountainPlex aren't done. Another restaurant, Chessie's on the Square, which will offer table service and a different menu than the Market, should be open this summer.
Renovation on the Rivertown Inn & Plaza is slated for completion in 2017. The inn will house a boutique hotel and the plaza will be an outdoor space with a stage at the corner of Second Avenue and Ballengee Street.
The Ritz Theatre, which now has one screen, also is expanding, with a possible two or three additional screening rooms to seat 48 people each. Allman is still considering locations for the addition.
Allman's efforts have drawn the attention of West Virginia's elected leaders. On Wednesday, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., met with him and visited several of his businesses.
"Hinton proves that West Virginia's small, rural communities can experience economic revitalization through entrepreneurship and technology, and it reinforces what I am working to accomplish with my Capito Connect Plan," Capito said through a spokeswoman.
While MountainPlex might have started the revitalization efforts, Allman is quick to credit civic groups and local government for their involvement in the work, too.
"In the last few years, the community has really come together beyond what we're doing," Allman said. "The Hinton Area Foundation, which I'm on the board for, is one of the most successful community organizations in the state, and [there's] a lot of positive movement, from civic groups and local organizations to city and county government.
"Everyone's trying to make a difference."
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.