Chamber Lists 7 Steps To Help Economy

Charleston Daily Mail, January 3, 2007 

The state Chamber of Commerce said state leaders need to focus on what it calls "seven key solutions" to keep West Virginia's economy moving in 2007. 

"The chamber's seven solutions are ones that, if implemented, will advance West Virginia's economic competitiveness, improve the state's business capacity and offer new employment opportunities to our citizens," Chamber President Steve Roberts said in a prepared statement. 

The "seven key solutions" statement was issued on Tuesday -- eight days before the Legislature convenes. 

State chamber executives are scheduled to meet with leaders from local chambers of commerce here on Thursday and Friday to discuss issues and strategies. 

Roberts called the chamber's "seven key solutions" a "formula for success," which he said will "help propel our state to new heights of prosperity and progress." The chamber's "seven key solutions" are: 

· Making more efforts to provide employers with trained, skilled workers. "Through public-private efforts, we must provide education and training programs that match the needs of today's employers, particularly new programs focused on technology fluency and proficiencies," the chamber said. Also, "we must instill in workers -- young and old -- the vital need to participate in lifelong learning opportunities and constantly improve their skills and knowledge." 

In addition, "employers need to be able to ensure a drug-free workplace, and prospective employees must be able to pass drug screenings," the chamber said.

· Enacting "meaningful judicial reforms so employers can feel secure operating in this state under a fair and balanced legal system." 

· Enacting reforms "that will stem the tidal wave of asbestos and silica mass litigation and ensure that injured individuals are diagnosed based on established medical criteria and by an attending physician. These reforms will help to unclog the system for those who are truly impaired or injured," the chamber said. 

· Reforming the health-care system and stemming the constant escalation in health-care costs. "West Virginia must eliminate the cost shift from government health-care programs to private-sector plans," the chamber said. 

· Continuing to reduce the cost of doing business by reducing workers' compensation costs even more, by eliminating the business franchise and inventory taxes and by additional reductions in the state's corporate net income tax rate. 

· Streamlining the environmental and regulatory permit process. "Many company managers tell me that the pendulum has swung too far in West Virginia, and that getting an environmental permit needed for a plant expansion or retrofit is too time-consuming, burdensome and costly," Roberts said. 

· Continuing funding basic infrastructure such as highways and utilities and making new investments in advanced infrastructure like broadband. 

Roberts said enactment and implementation of the "seven key solutions" will "substantially improve the state's business climate and help make West Virginia ‘open for business.'" 

Gov. Joe Manchin has been saying the state is "open for business." He has put the slogan on signs on major highways at the state's borders. 

The chamber advertises itself as "The voice of business in West Virginia for 70 years." The chamber's Web site describes the group as "the largest, most influential general business organization, representing all business sectors in every region of the state." Roberts has said the chamber has approximately 1,500 member firms that employ over half of the state's private sector workforce.