[ business ]
Open for Business
West Virginia Experiences New Business Growth in 2018
BLAIR DOWLER
Since the recession, West Virginia has been striving to find the solution to its economic development issues. As the backbone of the economy, entrepreneurship and small business might be the answer the Mountain State has been searching for.
In the first half of 2018, the state saw tremendous growth in new business. According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’ s office, approximately 6,180 new businesses have opened their doors since January 1. That is 318 more than the same time period in 2017.
“ It is hard for us to tell the true impact of each new business,” says Michael Queen, deputy chief of staff and director of communications for the Secretary of State’ s office.“ What we are seeing in West Virginia is an increased interest in new businesses. That could be attributed to a number of factors, including a better business climate and the increased interest in the state’ s oil and natural gas industry.”
In May 2018 alone, new business registration in West Virginia grew at 1.08 percent. The Business and Licensing Division reported that the top three counties for business growth in May were Wirt County with 4.83 percent growth, Hampshire County with 1.96 percent growth and Nicholas County with 1.64 percent growth.
From May 2017 to May 2018, the state saw a 10.85 percent increase in business registrations, and within the first six months of 2018, several of West Virginia’ s 55 counties were seeing waves of new business roll into their areas. In Kanawha County, 556 new businesses have registered since the beginning of the year. In Monongalia County, there were 421 newly registered businesses, and Cabell County saw 267 new businesses register in the first half of 2018.
“ We have implemented an aggressive public education campaign on the need and requirement for all companies or individuals doing business in West Virginia to be properly registered with our office,” says Secretary of State Mac Warner.“ That outreach includes daily social media updates, building
relationships with chambers of commerce and attending Small Business Administration and West Virginia Small Business Development Center events throughout the state. That public outreach began with the implementation of a five-member field services team. These five professional field representatives have been trained in all aspects of the Business and Licensing Division of the West Virginia Secretary of State’ s office.”
Although the oil and natural gas industry has seen some hardships in recent years, industry leaders believe the future is bright with the most significant increase in new business startups appearing to be related to the oil and natural gas industry.
The Secretary of State’ s office also worked with legislative leaders to renew registration fee waivers for young entrepreneurs, which are classified as entrepreneurs who are under the age of 30, and veterans who start their own businesses. So far in 2018, 13 new young entrepreneurs have filed new businesses compared to none in 2017, and there have been 25 more veteran-owned startups in 2018 compared to this time last year.
To continue on the upward trajectory of new business in the Mountain State, aspiring entrepreneurs throughout West Virginia can continue to have an impact on the state’ s economy and open the doors of their own startups and ventures by filing online at www. business4wv. com. More than 300 new business owners have opted to file online than in 2017, and by 2019, the Secretary of State’ s office will move to a fully online annual report filing requirement.
With such a boom in new business during the first half of 2018, what will the latter half look like for new businesses in West Virginia?
“ We anticipate ending the year with a conservative estimate of 800 more new businesses that opened in 2018 compared to 2017,” says Queen.“ Secretary Warner believes that the pro-business stance of the West Virginia Legislature is very important to business growth in the state.” •
22
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE