State Treasurer Pack Visits McDowell Senior Center, Engages With Community Needs

West Virginia State Treasurer Larry Pack, whose office has returned nearly $40 million in unclaimed property to state residents since July 1, 2024, visited the McDowell County Commission on Aging Senior Center on Wednesday, meeting with residents including Prosper McDowell to hear directly about conditions in one of the state's most economically strained counties.

McDowell County residents with dormant bank accounts, lapsed insurance policies, or old utility deposits may have unclaimed funds sitting with the state. Pack's office operates West Virginia's unclaimed property program, and the state maintains a free online search database that allows residents to check in minutes using only a name. His office surpassed all of Fiscal Year 2024's $28 million in returns before reaching nearly $40 million in the current fiscal year alone.

Pack, elected in 2024 as West Virginia's 26th State Treasurer, brought unusually specific credentials to Wednesday's visit. A retired CPA with professional experience in both finance and senior living, he co-founded accounting firm Pack Hawley Lambert & Burdette, which later merged with Suttle and Stalnaker, and spent 12 years practicing at Herman & Cormany CPAs. He also serves on the board of the West Virginia Alzheimer's Association, a direct professional tie to the care populations the McDowell County Commission on Aging serves daily. The COA's specialized Alzheimer's and dementia program, alongside family caregiver support services that provide respite for full-time caregivers of frail older relatives, sits at the center of what Pack's board work addresses statewide.

The Commission on Aging, at 725 Stewart Street in Welch, serves seniors and disabled residents across Welch, Bradshaw, and all of McDowell County. In-home services include bathing, dressing, grooming, laundry, shopping, and cleaning, as well as support for residents with more intensive physical needs. The center can be reached at 304-436-6588.

Pack's stop in McDowell continues a pattern he has kept since taking office. "To do a good job, you have to get around the state," he said during an earlier community visit in Weirton. Before his election as treasurer, Pack served as State Revenue Secretary and Senior Advisor to Governor Jim Justice from 2022 to 2024, and previously as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. The WV Treasury's official account posted the McDowell visit publicly, placing it in the record as formal state outreach rather than a courtesy appearance.

Pack has stated his priorities include job creation, economic growth, and elderly care in West Virginia. Wednesday's stop at the Commission on Aging put all three in direct contact with McDowell County's realities, where senior services and economic pressure have long intersected without much relief from Charleston.