Earlier this year, Republican House lawmakers unveiled their “Jobs First Agenda” in an effort to attract more businesses and get West Virginians working. And Gov. Patrick Morrisey celebrated tax cuts and economic development wins.
Morrisey said his administration has announced over $12 billion in new investments, which is set to bring more than 12,000 new jobs to the state.
“The momentum is real,” he wrote on social media this month.
But Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, says the data tells a different story.
The state’s largest advocate for businesses has repeatedly warned that employment is declining, the labor force is shrinking and West Virginia is falling behind competing states.
Lars Dalseide, a spokesman for Morrisey’s office, said the administration believes the recent investments will position the state for stronger job growth in the future while acknowledging some sectors have “experienced challenges.”
Mountain State Spotlight asked Roberts why he believes the governor’s narrative is wrong.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
MSS: Steve, after the March jobs report, you said, “With each new jobs report, we are seeing a clearer picture of where West Virginia stands and where we risk falling behind.” What economic indicators are you watching closely, and what are they telling you?
Roberts: What we’re seeing in West Virginia is a disturbing trend. We are seeing a trend that suggests that we are not creating jobs as fast as we’re losing jobs, and we’ve been losing jobs in the private sector. We are seeing declines in mining jobs, manufacturing jobs, hospitality and tourism and retail.
I think that a good, hard look at the numbers is what we need to be doing, and understanding these numbers. West Virginians need to know what direction our job picture is going.
We also pay attention to household income, wage growth and gross domestic product growth. For the last year measured, West Virginia’s domestic output was the 48th slowest-growing gross domestic product in the country.
MSS: This spring, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said: “The ‘Backyard Brawl’ for our state’s future is being won both at the kitchen table and in the marketplace.” He was pointing to billions of dollars of announced investments and thousands of promised jobs as evidence that the state is moving in the right direction. So why have you and the Chamber said that West Virginia is “not keeping pace” with the region or the nation?
Roberts: Let me say, this is not new for us. We have tracked jobs reports, income growth, and GDP for years and years, if not decades and decades, so we’re not doing this because of any one political opponent or anything like that.
We are simply saying, what does the data show in terms of job creation and economic growth? We will continue to talk about what the data shows. We’ve actually participated in some of those announcements, and we love it when there are good news announcements. But we’re simply looking at what the data says.
MSS: What are you hearing from businesses about the state’s economy that state leaders and rhetoric from the governor are missing?
Roberts: Well, I just came from a meeting in South Charleston, as an example, where I spoke to employers, community leaders, and so on. One of the first questions that came up was related to the workforce.
Where do people who are looking for a job go for information? How can we help people get connected? We have a program through our foundation, which is called Workforce Unifiers.
The Workforce Unifiers program is going out throughout the state and meeting with local groups, economic development, and education representatives of workers and others to say, ‘What are you hearing? What are your needs?’
And consistently, what we hear is that employers are having trouble finding workers to replace the workers who are retiring or otherwise leaving the workforce, and that the pipeline, the connecting system, needs to be improved.
MSS: For decades, West Virginia has had a smaller share of working-age adults employed or looking for work than in any other state. Despite years of proposed fixes from governors, lawmakers and business leaders, that number hasn’t moved much. Why?
Roberts: I think many of our jobs in West Virginia have been in
industrial settings, and those jobs tend to be male-dominated jobs. And I think that over time, we developed a culture in West Virginia that one spouse could work, and the other spouse could stay home.
There are also people living in rural areas who don’t have transportation, and who don’t have public transportation. So, the ability to get to work or get to a job is an aspect.
We also don’t have adequate childcare. If a family has children, in many places in West Virginia, there is no choice but to have somebody stay home and take care of the children, because there’s no other place for the children to be.
I’ll give you an example. In my neighborhood, there is a young woman who walks her baby in a stroller, who is a pediatrician. If a child needs a doctor at night, unless her parents are available to take care of the baby, she can’t go to the hospital.
What she points out is that she’s very fortunate; she lives close to her parents. In other words, there’s somebody to care for that baby while she goes to work. So, this is not limited to low-wage, low-skill kinds of jobs.
An additional factor that I have thought a great deal about is that, because West Virginia’s economy has been distressed over a period of decades, there are simply fewer opportunities for a working spouse. I think one of the reasons our workforce participation rate is low is that we don’t have that many places to work.
MSS: The Chamber has become increasingly vocal about the state’s progress on childcare policy. Why do business leaders see childcare as an economic issue rather than simply a family issue?
Roberts: We have a declining population, and I think we’re the second-oldest population in the nation, so we have a lot of people who are not available to be in the workforce.
If you are an employer, and you need workers and you can’t get them, you start asking the question, if you’re working in our workplace and you’re going to leave, why are you leaving?
Well, if the answer is because somebody needs to stay home to take care of children, you as an employer, are just simply motivated to try to find a solution to that. Employers have been pretty vociferous with us in saying that childcare is a real issue, and the lack of childcare is keeping people out of the workplace.
MSS: In a column you submitted to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, you wrote that “policies are the driving force behind the reality you experience” and that policy choices determine whether communities grow or shrink. What policy decisions made in Charleston over the last few years do you think have helped West Virginia’s economy, and what decisions have made growth harder?
Roberts: I think policies such as eliminating the business franchise tax and reducing the corporate net income tax rate are policies that have helped West Virginia’s economy.
I think when West Virginia passed a right-to-work law, it really sent a positive signal to employers that West Virginia wanted to do things differently and was open to a new way of looking at job creation and economic development.
I think the failure to pass Amendment Two, which would have eliminated the property tax on business equipment and inventory, sent the wrong signal to businesses because we’re the only state in the nation that has this particular tax.
When this was all going on, I was visiting my dentist. I was just in the dentist’s chair, and the dentist was saying to me, “I sure hope Amendment Two passes because I pay a whole lot anytime I buy a new piece of equipment to make your dental procedure go faster or be less painful. I’m being taxed for upgrading.”
We also need to reassure the county emergency services and the county bus services that we’re not trying to defund them or take money away from them. We simply have to look at another way of funding them than by penalizing businesses for growing.
Also, passing the child tax credit bills over the past couple of years has helped because we have businesses that are taking advantage of that, and they are adding childcare to what they offer to employees to come to work here.
MSS: Gov. Morrisey recently said West Virginia needs to invest in schools and workforce training programs to meet future demand for construction workers and other skilled trades. You have argued that the jobs of the future will require more education and specialized skills. How is West Virginia preparing workers for those jobs?
Roberts: We think there are some noteworthy examples that we should take a look at and learn from.
There is a combined Jackson-Roane County Community Technical Education Center. They are producing more welders than any other program at the high school level, than any other program we have in the state. That, by all accounts, is a successful program, and it’s somewhat unique in West Virginia.
It is a program for multiple counties, and it is also very focused on skills that are needed in that community. For instance, in Jackson County, where there’s Century Aluminum, they are focusing on the kinds of jobs that companies are creating and are in need of.
What we need to do is ramp up those models.
MSS: You’ve written that businesses won’t move to a state unless they can find workers with the skills they need. State leaders are betting heavily on manufacturing projects, energy development and data centers. Does West Virginia currently have the workforce to support that vision?
Roberts: It’s a mixed bag. The answer depends on where.
For instance, take a look at Monongalia County, which is now second in population. Monongalia County is graduating people from high school, people from community and technical education, and people from West Virginia University, and we see economic growth without question.
We also see economic growth in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Where we’re not seeing growth is in the more isolated and rural communities of West Virginia.
I gave a talk at Glenville State University about six or eight months ago, in which I talked about the “hollowing out” of West Virginia. The central part of West Virginia is hollowing out, but the border communities are where there is opportunity for growth.
MSS: The Chamber and Republican leaders generally agree on issues like taxes, regulation and economic development. But there appears to be a growing divide over diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Gov. Morrisey has said “No more DEI,” while the Chamber has pledged to oppose legislation that “promotes or allows discrimination.” Is this an area where the business community and state leaders are moving in different directions?
Roberts: I think realistically, the answer is yes.
Employers say that they want to be able to hire the best people, regardless of their race, gender, or country of origin. Frankly, business is just better at running business than government. Regardless of who is in charge, the government doesn’t need to tell businesses how to run their business.
So this is nothing new for us. This is not a new position we have created. We’ve always opposed discrimination in the workforce.
We’re not saying that the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion is automatically discrimination. There are those who would argue that it isn’t. But we do not think we should give any signals or vibes that we want to be a discriminatory state or a state where discrimination is encouraged.
One of the most obvious ways to discourage discrimination is to support diversity and openness and a welcome for all. I have long said, if you had a sick child and you needed a doctor, you wouldn’t ask what that doctor’s race is, or what that doctor’s gender is, or what country that doctor is from.
That’s all we’re really asking: that the state acknowledge that business wants to be able to make its own decisions without undue government interference.
MSS: If you were sitting down with Gov. Morrisey and legislative leaders tomorrow, what are the most important things you would tell them they could do over the next two years to strengthen West Virginia’s economy?
Roberts: I would start with education, and I would say helping educators do their jobs, both at the higher education level and K-12.
For instance, we need to assure teachers that if they enter the teaching profession, they’re going to make a minimum salary of at least $50,000 a year. That is, that is something the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce believes in, our members believe in, and they are willing to support it.
Second, I think without spending any money, we could have a better, stronger workforce effort in West Virginia. West Virginia’s workforce efforts are largely paid for by federal dollars, but we need to examine the effectiveness of our workforce programs.
Frankly, we need businesses to have a bigger voice and a better seat at the table for workforce development.