Education & Workforce

Education, talent development and job retention are the keys to our state’s future, our children’s future and economic growth. The West Virginia Chamber is focused on ensuring our state’s education and workforce development systems are effective, agile, accountable and responsive to produce a competitive, drug-free and healthy world-class workforce.

In 2015 the West Virginia Chamber strongly championed the successful passage of HB 2005. This important piece of legislation is allowing counties to fill critical-need teaching vacancies with qualified individuals who want to give back to their communities and help teach our children.

The West Virginia Chamber is also partnering with Jobs for West Virginia's Graduates, a non-profit organization that focuses on helping students graduate and find employment. Students complete community service projects and meet with local business and government leaders for mentoring. Jobs for West Virginia Graduates has seen remarkable successes, with a graduation rate of greater than 95% for its students and over 67% placement in a job upon graduation.

In 2018, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce published a report entitled Public Education in West Virginia: An Overview of Teacher Pay and Benefits, and Student Achievement to help explain financing of public education in West Virginia. This report compares West Virginia to surrounding states and is intended to start a robust conversation about public education in our state. Read this report.