Manufacturing jobs in WV

The manufacturing base of West Virginia once was dominated by American companies. Now, companies based in other countries are the best source of new industries.

Is it just me, or is there something wrong with that?

More than 20,000 West Virginians work for foreign companies. That statement came from Steve Spence, executive director of the West Virginia Development Office, at the West Virginia Economic Development Council’s fall conference at the Pullman Plaza Hotel in downtown Huntington on Monday as reported in The Herald-Dispatch this morning.

Here’s something that wasn’t said: According to the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs, the total employment in manufacturing in West Virginia last year was 61,003. Most of the major job gains that are announced in manufacturing in recent years have come from foreign-based companies. Also, foreign companies have bought some manufacturing facilities in West Virginia.

So maybe 1 manufacturing job in 3 in West Virginia derives from a foreign company. At the present rate of growth, how long will it be before half or more of West Virginia’s manufacturing jobs are at foreign companies?

If Toyota can make money here, why not Ford, GM, IBM or any of a number of large American companies?

From all indications, foreign manufacturers have done well in West Virginia despite problems with workers comp, the legal climate and all the other things that American companies criticize when looking at the state.

We have our problems, but people who are able to look at the United States with a fresh set of eyes have found ways around them.