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CEOs don't give a rat's ass about crap like this. They want cheap labor, low taxes, and light regulations. They just want to make obscene profits. They don't care about crap like you posted. Not a whit. They care about the APPEARANCE, but not the substance of it.
I am from Minnesota. If it weren't. For the price and the winters I would stay there. Land is pretty expensive here these days. WV might not have a big population but it is well populated. It is actually a pretty small state in terms of size. It is only 5 hours to NYC. 80% of the land mass of the state is basically unusable due to the topography. In the inner most regions a big part of the land mass is federally owned.
Much of Wv would resemble places like Ely, Isabella or Finland MN. On the off chance you have been to those places.
CEOs don't give a rat's ass about crap like this. They want cheap labor, low taxes, and light regulations. They just want to make obscene profits. They don't care about crap like you posted. Not a whit. They care about the APPEARANCE, but not the substance of it.
Businesses most definitely care about things like this.
Yes, they care about labor costs, taxes, and regulations, all wrapped up into a total cost of doing business in a particular location.
However, they absolutely do care about quality of life issues, because some of their executive will have to live where the work is. So, quality of schools is an issue. Social amenities (concert venues, night life, restaurants, sporting events, etc.) also come into the thinking. The social climate also counts. We saw businesses and major events pull out of North Carolina when they passed their "bathroom bill." Why? Because the new employees (those graduating from college right now) are totally unconcerned with things like race and sexual identity or orientation. They and their friends are in situations where they see people of many races and sexualities working, living, and interacting together. They don't want anybody to be pushed back into a closet or made to feel unwelcome.
West Virginia has shown the world that this place is not welcoming of all those people that would have to live here if a major business were to build a factory. WV shows the world that education isn't given the top priority. The range of world religions are not welcome. The LGBT community is only welcome in the cities. The cannabis users are not generally welcome, and the younger people here complain about the cost of downtown housing and the lack of social activities (nothing to do).
This year the legislature passed a draconian anti-abortion law, and tried to take over local taxes and education policy making (fortunately both failed). Doing things like that won't attract new businesses to come here.
You need to learn how 25 year old people think to understand these things.
Businesses most definitely care about things like this.
Yes, they care about labor costs, taxes, and regulations, all wrapped up into a total cost of doing business in a particular location.
However, they absolutely do care about quality of life issues, because some of their executive will have to live where the work is. So, quality of schools is an issue. Social amenities (concert venues, night life, restaurants, sporting events, etc.) also come into the thinking. The social climate also counts. We saw businesses and major events pull out of North Carolina when they passed their "bathroom bill." Why? Because the new employees (those graduating from college right now) are totally unconcerned with things like race and sexual identity or orientation. They and their friends are in situations where they see people of many races and sexualities working, living, and interacting together. They don't want anybody to be pushed back into a closet or made to feel unwelcome.
West Virginia has shown the world that this place is not welcoming of all those people that would have to live here if a major business were to build a factory. WV shows the world that education isn't given the top priority. The range of world religions are not welcome. The LGBT community is only welcome in the cities. The cannabis users are not generally welcome, and the younger people here complain about the cost of downtown housing and the lack of social activities (nothing to do).
This year the legislature passed a draconian anti-abortion law, and tried to take over local taxes and education policy making (fortunately both failed). Doing things like that won't attract new businesses to come here.
You need to learn how 25 year old people think to understand these things.
Not sure about some of this but cannabis shops are literally popping up everywhere so I’m not sure about the stance on that.
Not sure about some of this but cannabis shops are literally popping up everywhere so I’m not sure about the stance on that.
Medical. It's a start but that's all so far.
The Amendment issues Mensaguy brings up supports my position IMO. Politicians came up with these plans to take over taxes and schools and the people loudly said NO.
You’re kidding, right? The Eastern Panhandle is absolutely booming (Berkeley and Jefferson primarily). A huge influx of people moving in, new jobs and businesses everywhere. At one point pre-Covid, Berkeley County was adding 80 new residential addresses per week, according to county council. I would say that number is roughly the same today given all of the new developments under construction.
I’m confused how the Eastern Panhandle wouldn’t be considered booming. I’ll add the caveat that with growth comes with its own set of challenges. I definitely don’t want to seem like I’m defending growth without recognizing the pros and cons. It’s no secret that schools, housing developers and roads are having trouble keeping up with the growth. That’s a whole other topic that could have it’s own thread.
I was mainly looking at those "main streets" of towns (i.e. Charles Town), which isn't doing bad (and is doing VERY good in rural town standard) but not "lots of thing are happening" feel either.
That being said, eastern panhandle is definitely far and away the area that's doing the best in WV. The Morgantown area down to Clarksburg/Fairmont is also doing ok. Rest of state, well, not so much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor Blevin
LOL.
CEOs don't give a rat's ass about crap like this. They want cheap labor, low taxes, and light regulations. They just want to make obscene profits. They don't care about crap like you posted. Not a whit. They care about the APPEARANCE, but not the substance of it.
If they can find the labor, that is...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor Blevin
I still don't understand why major businesses and industries don't flock to West Virginia to take advantage of the cheap labor, and by so doing improve the economy to where West Virginia becomes a more sought after state.
We have other low costs states that people are flocking to with remote work or because good companies are moving there.
What is up with West Virginia? Is the business climate just bad, or what? I don't get it.
Here in Tennessee, we are attracting more good businesses all the time. The economy is constanly improving and attracting residents. It is not like people are moving to Nashville or Knoxville because they are the Paris of the USA or something.
What is up, WV? Why are you not attracting businesses?
And you mention Tennessee. Nashville actually can attract people since it does have that "cultural" draw (i.e. the music), where as Knoxville draws people b/c UTenn is right there giving it enough of a "young vibe" for things to thrive. You don't see Tri-Cities booming, Chattanooga is meh, and Memphis is not exactly booming.
And there's a HUGE difference between, let say, Nashville/Knoxville than any metro area in WV. Charleston (largest metro area) only has like 260k people, which is more similar in size to Clarksville TN than even Chattanooga (411k), much less Memphis or Knoxville (Each at ~1M).
I'll use a more apple-to-apple example - think of areas like Jackson, TN (Metro area ~180k). Is it booming? Not at all. Why doesn't Jackson TN attracts more business compare to Nashville? Or even Chattanooga?
While at Knoxville - there's a reason why Morgantown (Home of WVU) / Monongalia Co is actually gaining population - with the university being a sizeable economic driver.
I was mainly looking at those "main streets" of towns (i.e. Charles Town), which isn't doing bad (and is doing VERY good in rural town standard) but not "lots of thing are happening" feel either.
That being said, eastern panhandle is definitely far and away the area that's doing the best in WV. The Morgantown area down to Clarksburg/Fairmont is also doing ok. Rest of state, well, not so much.
If they can find the labor, that is...
And you mention Tennessee. Nashville actually can attract people since it does have that "cultural" draw (i.e. the music), where as Knoxville draws people b/c UTenn is right there giving it enough of a "young vibe" for things to thrive. You don't see Tri-Cities booming, Chattanooga is meh, and Memphis is not exactly booming.
And there's a HUGE difference between, let say, Nashville/Knoxville than any metro area in WV. Charleston (largest metro area) only has like 260k people, which is more similar in size to Clarksville TN than even Chattanooga (411k), much less Memphis or Knoxville (Each at ~1M).
I'll use a more apple-to-apple example - think of areas like Jackson, TN (Metro area ~180k). Is it booming? Not at all. Why doesn't Jackson TN attracts more business compare to Nashville? Or even Chattanooga?
While at Knoxville - there's a reason why Morgantown (Home of WVU) / Monongalia Co is actually gaining population - with the university being a sizeable economic driver.
WV can't grow in most places because it doesn't have any land. WV is like Vermont or something.
And Charleston isn't the largest metro area in the state. Don't let the highrises fool you.
I was mainly looking at those "main streets" of towns (i.e. Charles Town), which isn't doing bad (and is doing VERY good in rural town standard) but not "lots of thing are happening" feel either.
That being said, eastern panhandle is definitely far and away the area that's doing the best in WV. The Morgantown area down to Clarksburg/Fairmont is also doing ok. Rest of state, well, not so much.
If they can find the labor, that is...
And you mention Tennessee. Nashville actually can attract people since it does have that "cultural" draw (i.e. the music), where as Knoxville draws people b/c UTenn is right there giving it enough of a "young vibe" for things to thrive. You don't see Tri-Cities booming, Chattanooga is meh, and Memphis is not exactly booming.
And there's a HUGE difference between, let say, Nashville/Knoxville than any metro area in WV. Charleston (largest metro area) only has like 260k people, which is more similar in size to Clarksville TN than even Chattanooga (411k), much less Memphis or Knoxville (Each at ~1M).
I'll use a more apple-to-apple example - think of areas like Jackson, TN (Metro area ~180k). Is it booming? Not at all. Why doesn't Jackson TN attracts more business compare to Nashville? Or even Chattanooga?
While at Knoxville - there's a reason why Morgantown (Home of WVU) / Monongalia Co is actually gaining population - with the university being a sizeable economic driver.
Your points are pretty compelling.
I guess my response would be, if Tennessee is offering favorable tax benefits to attract new business, then those businesses can pick any location within the state, hence a Knoxville over a Johnson City. The different locations in the state have to compete against each other, but the state becomes the draw when it has favorable taxes and regulations compared to say, California or Hawaii. Smith & Wesson firearms is moving 10 minutes south of Knoxville.
I am just asking why West Virginia isn't attracting businesses. Why didn't Mitsubishi or Smith & Wesson move to West Virginia instead of Tennessee for cheap labor and freedom from burdensome taxes and regulations?
I am sure inertia has something to do with it. States that are drawing businesses are on the radar of CEOs wanting to leave states that are hostile to business. Why isn't WV a draw? Bad business climate?
I was born in Welch in 1947. My dad was there to teach music in the school. We moved away when I was nine months old.
About 15 years ago I decided I wanted to visit Welch. I hadn't been back since my childhood days visiting remaining friends in the area. All I remembered about the place was lots of trains going through at night, hauling coal I think.
I was stunned by what I saw. Practically everything was boarded up. There was one small mini mart/gas station and the only other "business" open appeared to be a government office dispensing government assistance. It was virtually a ghost town. People did seem to live along the road we traveled into the town. But homes were very modest and often in bad repair.
I had one other fairly recent experience with West Virginia. Eleven of us rented a place in Pipe Stem for a long weekend. It was fall and very pretty. I'd do that again in a heartbeat.
Berkeley County is definitely booming, I don't how 20%+ growth can be seen as anything but "booming", it is literally growing faster by percentage than counties like Mecklenburg County, NC (Charlotte) and Greenville County, SC.
Monongalia County, WV is growing at nearly the same rate as Buncombe County, NC (Asheville).
While a lot of the state is in somewhat of a decline, most of the declines are on par with rural BFE towns in pretty much every state.
The larger cities in the state aren't depressing, while many face some sort of decline, Morgantown and Martinsburg have seen continuous growth at a relatively high rate, and cities like Parkersburg, Fairmont, Beckley, and Clarksburg (Bridgeport) have experienced more stagnation than true decline, but at the very least I know Clarksburg is seeing a tremendous amount of economic growth, showing it's way through job creation, new housing developments, and major commercial growth.
Can't speak for Huntington as I've never been, both Charleston doesn't feel depressed.
The US-19 Corridor cities and towns (Fayetteville, Oak Hill, Summersville etc) are doing well, and a handful of them are seeing positive growth which will probably accelerate greatly with the national park designation.
Greenbrier / Lewisburg area definitely doesn't feel depressed, while technically stagnate growth wise, It feels like it's more so decreased household size as opposed to people fleeing the area.
The state has seen quite a bit of economic development overall within the last 12-months, Morgantown is seeing job growth nearly twice that of the US average (WBOY12), a steel plant bringing 900 jobs to the Huntington area, Pharmaceutical company bringing 1000 jobs to Morgantown, a lithium battery manufacturer bringing several hundred jobs west of Clarksburg, the aeronautical industry in Clarksburg/Bridgeport expected to bring 1000 jobs over the next few years, the Chlorox plant that just opened in Martinsburg, the Mountain State Beverage Plant in Morgantown, the electric school bus factory in Charleston, the modular home factory in like Bluefield or somewhere, DST innovations announcing over 1000 jobs to "Morgantown and somewhere in southern WV", Procter and Gamble expanding to 1400 workers in Martinsburg, few hundred additional jobs at the Toyota plant in Charleston - just to name a few off the top of my head. I think the state is beginning to head in a positive direction outside of just Morgantown and Martinsburg.
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