HINTON — At first glance, this river city may still look like a number of small towns across West Virginia.

Faded signs, empty store fronts, older homes needing some tender loving car and other signs of days gone by.

But if you start looking beyond any of the typical scenes in Hinton, you may stop seeing a small town hit hard by turbulent economies, you'll start to see a place growing and bustling with economic opportunity.

With the completely revamped Ritz Theatre, the delicious smells coming from The Market, a nondescript building with the eye-popping logo for PracticeLink and a place called The Guest House, you'll see that Hinton isn't a town on the decline, it's a town on the edge of success.

The renewed business activity in Hinton stirred the interest of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito who visited the town to see why a business with a national scope would locate itself in the heart of Hinton, West Virginia.

Capito's tour guide for the morning was PracticeLink's owner and founder Ken Allman who has been instrumental in the small business surge in Hinton.

Hinton was 'lucky' to already have broadband access, which made locating PracticeLink here possible, Allman said.

PracticeLink, according to its website, "connects job-seeking physicians and advanced practitioners in all specialties with opportunities at more than 5,000 health systems, hospitals, medical groups and private practices."

The Internet business is just one of several parts of Allman's businesses in Hinton that are waking up the sleepy town after years of decline.

"At a time like this we are being asked to diversify," Capito said. "Hinton is a great example of what expanded broadband ability can do for small businesses."

Capito said it is important that towns have strong connectivity.

"Hinton has it and it has attracted a high profile business here. It demonstrates what connectivity can do for small towns," Capito said.

Allman said for other businesses and small towns to have this kind of success they need to work together.

"Hinton has made great progress through collaboration between civic groups, schools, government groups and businesses," Allman said. "Revitalization starts with people. I look for people who are hungry, humble and smart. That serves as the foundation for everything we do."

Because of the people who work for Allman and the collaborations he has forged in the Hinton area, it has allowed his two businesses PracticeLink and MountainPlex Properties to become multifaceted entities.

"Summers County and Hinton have a great deal to offer from scenic beauty to natural resources, hospitality services to lodging, quality dining and shopping options," Allman said.

Allman said his working closely with city, county and state officials have helped leverage his private investment in the community. With PracticeLink being a business with a national scope, local and state collaborations helped his company overcome local economic struggles.

Allman said it was important for government to enable and energize businesses so they can thrive in communities like Hinton.