WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin told business leaders at the West Virginia Business Summit Thursday in Greenbrier County he fears the state doesn’t have enough workers to fill the hundreds of new jobs being created by companies building manufacturing facilities statewide.
“My greatest concern right now: Will we have the labor force to be able to provide the demand for what people want and what we can do?” Manchin (D-W.Va.) said.
One of the state’s largest economic development projects is Nucor Steel in Mason County. The company plans to build a $2.7 billion facility and hire up to 800 employees.
Earlier this week, Green Power Motor Company in Kanawha County opened an all-electric school bus manufacturing facility with a goal of reaching up to 900 new jobs by 2024.
Manchin said out-of-state recruitment efforts over the next few years will be key in filling those positions.
“We’re going to have to recruit an awful lot of workers into the state of West Virginia,” he said. “We don’t have them. We’re can’t produce them within. We’re going to have to go out and get them.”
State tourism officials have been working to encourage more out-of-state residents to move to the Mountain State through work incentive programs. Manchin said there are good reasons to make the move.
“This is the place they should be coming. The quality of life we have, the opportunities we have, the education opportunities we have with WVU and Marshall,” he said. “We can make things happen.”
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who also spoke at Thursday’s summit, reiterated Gov. Jim Justice’s words “it’s go time” when it comes to diversifying West Virginia’s economy. Capito said the state should embrace the change.
“I think we all feel that way. We’re coming out of COVID, we’re ready to expand, meet and greet. We’re finding out that the things in West Virginia that we always knew were there are being discovered by other people,” Capito said.
Capito agreed with Manchin about workforce concerns.
“The things I hear all the time are inflationary worries, supply chain worries and workforce worries are rampant throughout the state and the country,” she said.
Sparkz Inc. announced Wednesday its plans to establish a manufacturing facility in Taylor County. The company plans to hire 350 workers at the site located off U.S. Route 50.
In June, medical logistics company Owens and Minor broke ground on a new distribution center in Morgantown which will include 140 new jobs.
Manchin and Capito during Thursday’s summit also touted the bipartisan infrastructure law that will bring additional funding to West Virginia’s roads, bridges and broadband access; therefore, making the state more attractive to out-of-state visitors.
The 2022 West Virginia Business Summit at The Greenbrier runs through Friday.