CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice released his jobs vision for West Virginia Monday and the plan drew criticism from both of his opponents.
Justice, the owner of the Greenbrier Resort, began talking about his plan during Saturday’s candidate forum in Charleston. Monday, the Justice campaign released a few more specifics about the plan.
Justice wants to find new markets for coal and natural gas along with an effort to “rekindle a better marketing strategy for our quality metallurgical coal to the world.”
Justice also wants to make incentives available to power plants in West Virginia to use coal from the Mountain State.
The jobs vision also focuses on tourism, agriculture and marketing where Justice would be a “marketer-in-chief,” according to the plan.
“I will personally recruit businesses and capital to West Virginia like none other,” Justice said.
Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall) challenged Justice’s ability to create jobs as governor during an appearance Monday on MetroNews “Talkline.”
“Jim’s created jobs but they are all in businesses he owns and has a vested interest in and he gets a return on that investment,” Kessler said. “I’ve created jobs for people in this state that I haven’t made a dime on—that’s the difference.”
Companies owned by Justice in the Mountain State employ more than 2,700 people, according to Justice.
According to Kessler, the former state Economic Development Grant Committee and the corresponding Tax Increment Financing districts that he supported in the Senate in the early 2000’s have created “tens of thousands of jobs” including those at the Highlands in Wheeling, Charleston baseball park and new TIF districts currently up and running.
“I’ve created many more jobs than he (Justice) has,” Kessler said Monday.
Former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, has his doubts about Justice’s ability to create jobs as governor.
“Creating jobs as a CEO is much different than doing the things necessary as a state to allow for job creation,” Goodwin said Monday on “Talkline.”
West Virginia needs a governor that can market it to the world, Justice said.
“We have to grow revenue through job creation. We must pay our people better, fix our schools, repair our roads, and give our families hope,” Justice said in the news release about his jobs vision. “I can do all this; just look at what I’ve done at The Greenbrier, in coal, in medicine, and in agriculture. People said that it wasn’t possible to save The Greenbrier, to bring the PGA tour to West Virginia, or to bring NFL teams to the state. I said, ‘Why Not West Virginia!'”