On Business Friendliness

This is nothing new. IN fact, it will continue as long as West Virginians keep refusing to give in to corporate ideologues like the Chamber of Commerce and their allies. I mean is anyone surprised that Forbes magazine judges West Virginia as a place not to
do business?

Forbes Lists mean nothing. There are many more business magazines to pay attention to than the the millionaire's club digest.


Here are the Real Reasons:

1. Forbes Magazine rankings mean nothing to honest-to-goodness business. Look who this magazine is written for really. To be ranked last in business-friendly means simply to be last on Wall Street's list. Which looking historically back means we were always last

2. Don't confuse Corporate-friendly with business-friendly. Sorry Republicans but your friends don't count. We want honest small-businesses to create a solid foundation of wealth in this state. Outside business interests take their money and go home once the resources are dried up or too costly to remove. Oh that's right, the only real concern corporations have shown this state have been in energy and timber. After decimating those resources and the land around it they left.

3. Today's corporate world has no big gains to find in West Virginia other than minimal investment. It is safe to say that we only returns we offer wall street continue to be resource or primary economic investments. Simply put opportunity for investors is not here because of reliance on traditional industries which long-ago lost competitiveness and that has nothing to do with taxes or



Finally here is something for everyone from the article that will strike everyone as strange:

Expansion Management Magazine conducted surveys of 19 million companies over eight years and found West Virginia had three cities in the top 20 small metro areas attracting businesses, Burdette said, adding Charleston ranked eighth, Parkersburg ranked 14th and Wheeling ranking 17th on that list.

The lists compiled showed the cities that were "magnets for business," he said.

"These are the places where people are locating," Burdette said. "I think that speaks volumes."

I guess Economic Expansion Magazine doesn't know what it is talking about. Or maybe it's just not communicating the desires of Wall Street to pressure states into making uniform changes to benefit corporations and investors.


Update: Just an afterthought of my post. More from the EconomicExpansion Magazine:

Tourists know West Virginia for its scenic views, but businesses are finding it a location that supports world-class manufacturing.

The state has added 18,000 jobs since 2003, said George Hammond, research associate professor in the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University. There has been job growth in the headquarters, professional and business services, and manufacturing sectors.

"One of the things we hear a lot is that the work force quality is high," Hammond said. "We have low rates of turnover and high rates of loyalty."

The quality of life is also an asset for the Mountaineer State.

"West Virginia is really a great place to live," Hammond said. "We are a state of small towns. That small town atmosphere, with a low crime rate and a high level of social cohesiveness, makes it very attractive."

The draw is apparent even to international firms like Intelli-Spray, which announced in September that it would relocate its U.S. headquarters from California to the Kanawha Valley, north of Charleston. The company is a subsidiary of Australia-based Quik Corp.

....


One big thing here too:

The state is a prime location for distributors because it is within overnight trucking distance of more than 60 percent of the U.S. population and more than one-third of the Canadian population.