MORGANTOWN – The Dominion Post spoke with House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw this past week about the three recent big economic development announcements and about the state’s progress.
We open with the end of the conversation, as his concluding remarks best summarize his entire message.
“We are an economy in transition,” he said. “We are an economy that is now actively moving into a 21st century economic environment.”
“We are still happy to celebrate the opening of new mines and gas wells, he said. “But we don’t have to restrict ourselves to that anymore. We have created a new economy in this state.”
Green companies are welcome now. ”Not only are they welcome, but we want them here.”
The plans for recently announced Nucor’s new steel mill in Mason County, GreenPower Motor Co.’s electric bus manufacturing facility in South Charleston and Owens & Minor’s medical supply center in Morgantown didn’t happen overnight, he said.
“We have finally seen come to fruition what many people have been working on, certainly for the last eight years here in the Legislature, but certain for decades before that in creating a business climate that’s caught national attention and can really set the stage for a transition into a true 21st century economy here in West Virginia.”
The announcements validate the idea that West Virginia is a great place for investment, expansion or bringing a new industry, Hanshaw said.
The Nucor announcement is about more than just the financial investment, he said. Nucor is a steel recycler that in late 2021 placed on the market the first carbon neutral steel coil. A state with no heavy industry now producing a carbon-free steel product for downstream manufacturing is a big step.
And the same day as the Nucor announcement, GreenPower announced it’s opening the electric school bus facility. He and some other delegates got to ride one.
“It was a fantastic piece of equipment. I’d love for my own kids to ride on that school bus.”
Nucor is 149th on the Fortune 500 list. Owens & Minor is 345th. GreenPower is not on the Fortune 500 list but it’s publicly traded like the other two.
Putting that in perspective, Hanshaw said the state wants to be an environment for economic startup opportunities but also encouraging existing firms to come here. “We’re super excited about it. We think it’s just the first three of several announcements to come.”
Site certification program
A key piece of legislation this session to keep moving forward, Hanshaw said, it the Certified Sites and Development Readiness Program bill, HB 4002.
The program will be administered by the Economic Development Department and will feature a process for applicants – municipal, county, regional and state entities – to identify and describe potential sites for economic development and investment. The department will select participants and the program will offer two types of grants. It passed one committee and is now in House Finance.
Expanding on that, Hanshaw said he believes government has two main functions: public safety and infrastructure. “Infrastructure turns out to be critical.” That’s the reason for the bill.
“We know we’re competing against every state in the union and most other countries in the world. We know that capital is not always patient.” Investment decisions often have to be made quickly and the state needs to have sites ready, and to prepare every site possible for immediate construction, development and deployment of investment capital.
There are other intangibles that draw businesses, he said. The state worked for two decades to make workers compensation competitive.
On Thursday night, during the State of the State Address, Gov. Jim Justice said the Workers’ Compensation Old Fund deficit has been eliminated. In 2005 it had a deficit of $3.5 billion, and now has a positive net asset balance of $57 million.
Another intangible is a solid Rainy Day Fund. “Site selection consultants and board members looking to make a siting decision want to know that they’re in a jurisdiction in which its not likely they’re going to experience wild and unpredictable swings in corporate net income taxes. We’re now a jurisdiction in which that’s the norm.
Morgantown Mylan plant
The Dominion Post asked Hanshaw about the former Mylan pharmaceuticals plant in Morgantown. Last August, WVU and Viatris announced they were talks for WVU to assume ownership, but there’s been no word since.
Hanshaw said, “That’s a priority for everyone. That facility is a gem.” And it’s a priority to maintain the facility in a similar use. Leadership in Charleston is working with WVU to take ownership and keep it maintained so it can go back into service, hopefully as a manufacturing facility.
He knows, he said, there are talks about bringing additional pharmaceutical manufacturing back onshore, but he’s not privy to the negotiations about the site.
“No one’s forgotten about that facility for sure. It’s too good a resource for us as we think about how we transition our economy,” and maintain human capital in the region.
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
