WHEELING — Joseph Woodley is laser focused on other people’s wellbeing. As a student success coach at West Virginia Northern Community College, Woodley said one of his most important duties is to help students learn to manage their finances and invest in their futures.

Dr. Brett Nanners, the newest addition to the orthodontic office of Dr. Dan Joseph in Wheeling, starts seeing her patients at a young age and helps improve their smiles throughout their lives.

Meanwhile, Production Manager Michael “Chops” Jacobs III is helping to run a family-owned business in Martins Ferry that has been bringing fresh cuts of meats to local customers since 1979.

These individuals — and many other difference-makers — are featured in Faces of Progress, a supplement to The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register and The Times Leader that you can find within all three publications today, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Our annual Progress edition examines the strides being made across the Ohio Valley in the areas of Education, Health Care, Community, Finance, Manufacturing & Technology, and Professional Services.

From community leaders to government officials, business owners and professionals including lawyers, chefs and surveyors, the Ohio Valley is filled with people who make decisions and provide services and opportunities for the rest of us each and every day. Those who sat down with our reporters to contribute to our six progress sections shared not only what they already know about their respective fields, but also what they see on the horizon.

“It was exciting to hear about the advances being made across the board as we compiled this year’s Progress edition,” said Jennifer Compston-Strough, managing editor of The Times Leader. “Whether it was surgical procedures performed by robotic arms under a doctor’s careful guidance or 3-D printing of specialized tools and components for the military, we learned that all sorts of brand new things are happening all across the local region.”

In the pages of our six Progress sections — Finance and Manufacturing & Technology today, Education and Health Care on Tuesday, and Community and Professional Services on Wednesday — readers will learn about an Indian company that has put down roots right here in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, what our local colleges are doing to attract and retain students and prepare them for their ever-evolving futures, how educational service centers are providing support to schools in areas such as artificial intelligence and behavioral health, as well as how public funds are managed by elected officials and how police and fire officials help to keep our communities safe.

All of these are aspects of daily life in the Ohio Valley and, although there are always hurdles to overcome, much can be achieved as we work and learn and grow together.

Susie Nelson, executive director for the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley, summed it up like this: “There’s a lot of need in our region, and a lot of basic needs with issues relating to homelessness, mental illness and kids in crisis,” Nelson continued. “I think people — donors especially — are recognizing this. People are very interested and invested in solving these big heavy issues we have in the region.”