Editor’s Note:The following is a biography of one of the four individuals chosen to the Bridgeport High School Alumni and Friends Foundation Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a banquet on Sept., 30 at the Bridgeport Conference Center. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling Darletta Stout at 304-203-8300 or Cookie Compton at 304-842-6365.

 

Paul Smith is a resident of Bridgeport, West Virginia and is married to Donna -- his wife for 21 years.  They are the parents of two children.  Logan, a sophomore at Fairmont State University, plays baseball and majors in Chemistry in hopes of becoming an orthodontist.  Kaitlin is a senior at Bridgeport High School and plans to attend Fairmont State University.  She hopes to major in business and play basketball or soccer at the collegiate level.

 

Paul has been active in all levels of the community of Bridgeport.  He has served as the president and has been heavily involved in many of the youth sports organizations   -- including the Bridgeport Little League, Bridgeport Youth Football, and Bridgeport Soccer. He is currently the President of Heritage Farms Homeowners Association, where his family resides.  He and his family are members of Jewel City Church  in Shinnston WV.

 

There have been many projects which Paul has given of his time, energy, and resources when it comes to Bridgeport High School.    Some of those extraordinary projects include the building of a new boys’ basketball locker room, the scoreboard at Wayne Jamison Field, the new track building, and the new baseball press box/baseball field upgrades.     Those projects and improvements simply would have not occurred without Paul Smith’s efforts.

 

Paul was born and raised on a farm in Alpena, West Virginia. He attended Elkins High School and graduated in 1989.   He continued his education at Fairmont State earning a degree in Technology Education and a minor in Architecture. He then obtained a Master’s Degree at WVU in Safety and Environmental Management.

 

Following graduation, Paul began his career in the oil and gas industry at Invitation Energy located in Mannington, West Virginia.   He learned many aspects of the oil and gas industry from the beginning stages completely through the production phase which included such things as building locations, drilling of wells, and the laying of pipelines.

 

After that experience, Paul went to work for a company called Title Pro -- which was an oil and gas, title, and abstract company -- where he ultimately became the Vice-President.   This experience gave him the necessary background to form Precision Oil and Gas in 2000.   Paul Smith continues in that endeavor today –- as Precision Oil and Gas’s President.  That company’s work is multi-faceted and includes the leasing of oil and gas; obtaining right of ways; and assisting in all aspects of the oil and gas industry.