WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The 90th annual West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Business Summit returns to The Greenbrier this week.
The three-day event features leaders in many different industries coming together in Greenbrier County. This year’s event, with a “Legacy that Leads” theme, begins on Wednesday and continues through Friday at the historic resort. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts said on MetroNews “Talkline” Monday that the event comes at a perfect time of year.
“We are having a wall-to-wall crowd; we have more people than we have room for,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be crowded but I think there’s going to be lots of excitement. There’s excitement in the air about West Virginia; there’s excitement in the air about what we can accomplish.”
Roberts said the summit continues to grow, with the state chamber of commerce right along with it.
“We’ve had a lot of membership growth,” Roberts said. “We’re the largest business trade organization in West Virginia and this is the largest meeting of West Virginians that occurs around business education (and) political sorts of issues.”
The summit has a long and proud tradition, Roberts said.
“This began in 1948 — the first meeting of the West Virginia Chamber was held at The Greenbrier in 1936 — but it’s been held successively on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday before Labor Day since 1948,” Roberts said.
Roberts said this year’s summit will feature discussions on a wide variety of topics, including leadership, the future of energy in the state, education, and healthcare. He said the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has long held that “West Virginia has a choice to make” about whether it is an energy-producing state or a poor state. Roberts said the chamber is pushing for the state to do more with its energy-producing resources.
Roberts noted the annual CourtWatch program is returning for its 28th version this year. He said that gives a “business overview” of what the Supreme Court has done in certain important cases. He said the summit will also feature childcare conversations, namely the issues that parents face finding employment if they can’t find places to care for their kids.
West Virginia is the “nation’s battery,” Roberts said. He cited the Mountain State with having a long-standing tradition with many manufacturers, saying that companies come to West Virginia because of its abundance of resources.
Many leaders will be on hand, Roberts said.
“We’ll be hearing from educators, health care leaders, we’ll be hearing from some of our political leadership,” Roberts said. “We’re going to be able to welcome the governor (Patrick Morrisey), both United States senators (Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice), our Treasurer Larry Pack, and others; so, we’re very, very excited about those who are coming.”
Roberts said The Greenbrier is the perfect spot for the event.
“That’s the state’s largest venue,” Roberts said. “We’re in the largest rooms; we have all of the meeting rooms in the hotel are taken up. It’s just going to be lots of energy; I wish we could bottle the energy and use it elsewhere.”
Read more about this year’s event and find the full list of the 2026 summit guests here.