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Jobs Can Fix a Lot, Including Bad Stats · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has released its annual
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  Speaker 1: campaign for Jobs Digest, and the numbers are not good.
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  Speaker 1: West Virginia ranks last in the nation for job growth
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  Speaker 1: over the past decade and 49th in personal income. Our
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  Speaker 1: tax burdens remain high, while research spending, educational outcomes, home
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  Speaker 1: price appreciation, and labor force participation continue to trail much
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  Speaker 1: of the country. So, what's the fix? Jobs Digest. Jobs
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  Speaker 1: and more jobs. Companies create jobs and companies compare the
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  Speaker 1: cost of investing here with the cost of investing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
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  Speaker 1: and elsewhere. Taxes are part of that calculation alongside labor, energy, land,
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  Speaker 1: and transportation. West Virginia has abundant natural resources and enormous
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  Speaker 1: energy potential. Those are real advantages, especially for energy-intensive industries
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  Speaker 1: such as data centers. But we must reduce the hurdles
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  Speaker 1: that discourage investment. When lawmakers return to Charleston, they should
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  Speaker 1: examine whether the state's tax structure makes West Virginia competitive
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  Speaker 1: enough to attract new employers and help existing businesses expand.
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  Speaker 1: More investment can mean better paying jobs, higher incomes, greater
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  Speaker 1: consumer spending, and ultimately more government revenue from a larger economy.
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  Speaker 1: But West Virginia also needs more people. Ascend West Virginia
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  Speaker 1: has received more than 92,000 applications and attracted over 1,500
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  Speaker 1: new residents. More than 96% have remained and 41% have
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  Speaker 1: bought or built homes. That is success worth expanding. The
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  Speaker 1: legislature should also consider a substantially larger investment in Ascend,
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  Speaker 1: bringing more working, tax-paying residents here sooner rather than later.
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  Speaker 1: Economic growth requires two things. West Virginia has struggled to
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  Speaker 1: produce consistently. More jobs and more people. We should pursue
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  Speaker 1: both as aggressively as we possibly can. Onward and upward.