An economic development official told lawmakers that the Morrisey administration is trying for a high success rate, rather than swinging at every pitch.
Lawmakers, in turn, wanted to know about timely approvals for investments and the need for better communication with local economic development authorities.
This all occurred as Nick Preservati, director of the West Virginia Office of Energy, spoke before the Joint Committee on Government and Finance during legislative interim meetings at Stonewall Resort State Park.
Preservati noted that because of recent legislative action, the Department of Economic Development is about to be tucked back into the state Department of Commerce as a division. He said state officials also have been completing a comprehensive, top to bottom review a review of economic development efforts.
“So what we’re looking at is focusing on what West Virginia does best — which is energy, which is manufacturing, and we’re taking a team approach,” Preservati said. “We’re focusing on technology, energy and advanced manufacturing, and that’s the focus that we’re looking at on everything that we do in regards to economic development.”
Preservati said West Virginia is also examining the number of “touches” a project has with the West Virginia economy.
“And what we mean by that is, if you have a widget company that distributes widgets overseas, that helps the West Virginia economy,” Preservati said,
“But it doesn’t touch it as much as, say, a fertilizer plant that uses the state’s natural gas to develop the fertilizer, uses the state’s coal reserves to generate the electricity, sends the fertilizer in state for agriculture and blasting. and something like that will touch the economy, 3, 4, 5 times and have much more significant effect on the economy than a one off.”
The overview, he said, would be trying to find projects that affect the state at a much wider breadth.
House Finance Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said much of what was described “sounds like you’re trying to reinvent the wheel again, because you had a change in administration.
“So the opportunities that were towards the end of the previous administration, where people had been here, that the economic development staff had been working with, are they still involved, or have they walked away?”
Preservati responded that the new administration isn’t just starting over, but instead is asking “Are they part of a comprehensive, cohesive strategy? Do they work for West Virginia?”
He said that means not reinventing the wheel. But we do feel like we have to be a little more focused, with a more of a direct strategy.”