The most important part of any West Virginia business is the quality of its workforce, and we have several industries that will need an influx of new employees in the coming years.
To maximize job development opportunities, BIC encourages state leaders to address the following:
- Tax Fairness — West Virginia has made substantial strides revising its state and local tax code to make West Virginia a better place in which to do business. WVBIC recommends that the West Virginia Legislature continue with its present policy of reasonable tax rates for businesses and individuals.
West Virginia’s infrastructure is one of our greatest assets and most important responsibilities. A critical underpinning of our state’s economic future is the safety, security and stability of our roads, bridges, water and sewer facilities, schools, higher educational facilities and airports.
West Virginia is one of only four states that maintains its entire highway system, which is why our state has the sixth-largest system in the nation. Nearly half the bridges on West Virginia’s interstate system will need significant repairs or reconstruction by the year 2026, and 36 percent of our major roads are in either poor or mediocre condition. A total of 35 percent of West Virginia’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
West Virginia has been accused – sometimes correctly, other times incorrectly -- that our legal system is out of sync with the rest of the country and a deterrent to business growth.
Separating fact from rhetoric shows that West Virginia has made some commendable progress in certain areas of civil justice over the past decade – most notably medical liability and workers’ compensation – but much more remains to be done to make us competitive.
Some of West Virginia’s greatest fiscal achievements in the past few decades have required admirable political fortitude and discipline.
West Virginia’s elected officials have shored up nearly all previously unwieldy long-term debt by setting aggressive payment schedules for public pension funds.
At the same time, our leaders resisted the urge to spend every penny of surplus state revenues and instead locked them away in the Rainy Day Fund. Officials also eliminated one of West Virginia’s biggest fiscal detriments by overhauling workers’ compensation, setting up a payment plan for old program debts and privatizing the system.