MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Members of the state House of Delegates are still on the road.
The House’s “Seeking Solutions, Celebrating Successes” listening tour was scheduled to make stops in Wheeling on Wednesday night and in Morgantown on Thursday morning.
The Listening Tour was developed in 2013 by Del. Tim Miley (D-Harrison), the outgoing Speaker of the House.
Small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs are invited to attend the events, which have been held around the state, to discuss what’s working for small businesses and what isn’t.
Many of the investors and operators of small companies run into the same challenges with their start-ups. By coming together at the Listening Tour Session, Miley said participants can act as mentors to one another.
“Most importantly, (they meet) to share some of the difficulties and hurdles that they are encountering as part of being an entrepreneur and small business owner,” explained Miley.
It’s not uncommon for those in attendance to ask questions about money to get started,” said Miley. “If there was only greater access to capital to help them either expand their business or start a business, they would be much more successful.”
In West Virginia, according to West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, about 42 percent of workers in West Virginia are employed by small businesses. Many of those businesses cater to tourism and visitor interests.
Often, the Listening Tour Sessions bring light to issues owners want addressed promptly. Most recently, infrastructure concerns top small business owners lists of issues.
“First impressions are lasting impressions. So, if their first impressions of West Virginia are these terrible roads, to get to where they want to go to have fun, then they just aren’t going to be back here to the state to have fun,” said Miley.
For those business owners who’ve already invested in the brick and mortar space to operate, they’re telling lawmakers something needs to be done to grow and keep qualified workers in West Virginia.
“It’s not for lack of funding or regulatory prohibitions, it’s they can’t find people that can work in the businesses,” said Miley. “If they could, they would be able to expand.”
The listening sessions, a project from the House Committee on Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, are open to the public.
The Wheeling event was scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at West Virginia Northern Community College’s B&O Building in downtown Wheeling. The Morgantown forum was set to start at 10 a.m. Thursday at WVU’s Alumni Center.