West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 77

The state has worked hard to improve its business climate
over Spence’s 40-year career, especially in terms of revamping
policies related to taxes and workers’ compensation.
“The privatization of workers’ compensation, lowering
of business taxes and other improvements have placed West
Virginia in position to compete,” he says. “We need to continue
to improve our tax structure. The Tax Foundation, a bipartisan
nonprofit, ranks us 23rd in the total cost of business taxes. That
ranking is better than our border states, but we should continue
to evaluate our competitive position and consider reforms such
as addressing our tax structure as it relates to property tax on
equipment and inventory.”
Starting a business is not the only way international investment
can occur in West Virginia. Global companies can purchase
existing domestic businesses too.
“We have many examples of this across several different
industries,” says Spence. “A typical international investment
project involves a foreign company that has established a market
in the U.S. for its products and determines the need to manufacture
or assemble its products in this country. Typically,
these companies establish a manufacturing facility or distribution
center, but some expand in the U.S. market through a
joint venture project or acquisition of an existing company.”
To cultivate opportunities, Spence’s team of seven works to
find investment projects and reach the decision makers within
those companies. Once those relationships are established, they
work with companies on site selection, loan programs, labor
force recruitment, employee training programs, tax credits
and tourism development.
Steve Spence.
Whether we are marketing
West Virginia to
domestic or international
companies, we know
from both firsthand
experience and several
studies that West Virginia
offers a profitable
location for companies
in specific industries.”
“For each project, we establish one point of contact—someone
who works to fully understand the client’s needs and coordinates
all the state’s support, as well as the company’s visits
to West Virginia and any other activities,” he says. “Site or
building selection is the first step in most projects. We learn
about the company’s requirements and review our site and
building database to find the best options statewide that may
meet their needs. As the project develops, we prepare a proposal
outlining the company’s commitment for job creation and
investment and detailing our offer of loans, training programs,
tax credits and other support.”
WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM SPRING/SUMMER 2020 75