WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — On the heels of terrible jobs data in West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey told the state’s business leaders he’s focused on cutting government red tape in an effort to boost the economy and move the state forward.

“West Virginia will be positively affected within just a few months. We’re already seeing this transformative strategy take root and it will bear fruit,” Morrisey said.

It was the first time the governor addressed the state’s leaders in business, higher education and health care along with lawmakers at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Summit. It is being held at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Just last week, the chamber raised concerns about WorkForce West Virginia data that showed the state’s labor force and overall employment have declined consecutively for 14 months.

In the last year, West Virginia lost more than 4,000 jobs and 7,600 people from the workforce. Employment opportunities in manufacturing have fallen by a dramatic number in the last few decades, the chamber said in a news release.

Previous governor Jim Justice, a coal company owner and businessman prior to politics, announced a string of big business investments in West Virginia during his tenure. Justice, now a U.S. senator, gave millions in taxpayer dollars to Nucor Steel on top of the initial $315 million mentioned in 2022 to build a plant in Mason County.

At last year’s Business Summit, Justice announced a $35 million investment in an Upshur County manufacturing facility for Prime 6, a maker of charcoal and wood grilling logs that was featured on the television show, “Shark Tank.” Prime 6 received a $10 million forgivable High Impact Development Project Performance Loan from the state’s Economic Development Authority, according to public records.

While Justice and Morrisey — both Republicans — overlap on their business and energy investment focuses, the current governor is heavily focused on addressing regulatory barriers in the state. And Morrisey doesn’t want to lure businesses to the state through financial incentives.

“We do have a new approach that we’ve been working on, and that involves this, rather than just throwing money at individual companies in an ad hoc manner, we’re working on the fundamentals,” Morrisey said. “We have to enhance West Virginia’s investment climate by lowering the regulatory and the capital barriers.”

He wants to scrutinize the return on investment on every taxpayer dollar spent on economic development in the state.

“Gone are the days where a department comes in [and says], ‘I need $3 million on X.’ You must prove your [return on investment],” Morrisey said.

He added, “We are not going to be in the business of just trying to buy companies and get in some of these competitions …We’re going to show the world what West Virginia is made of.”

Morrisey’s universal licensing bill in effect

This past legislative session, the governor championed a bill that allows new residents to transfer their occupational and professional licenses from another state to West Virginia. It’s known as occupational licensing reciprocity. Morrisey signed the measure into law April 7.

“Already, in just a few months since that bill’s passed, we’ve seen things that are moving the needle,” Morrisey said. “We’re increasing the number of contractors registered in the state since this time last year. If you look at the April through June timeline, things are getting faster. That’s an 8% increase year over year.”

Shortly after being sworn in, Morrisey launched an “Economic Backyard Brawl” through an executive order. The plan focuses on developing energy infrastructure and, through that, competition with surrounding states. He said there were talks to accelerate permit application approvals, which can delay the start and completion of certain projects.

Following his speech, he told reporters he’s conscious of federal money drying up. He wants a balanced budget and transparency on spending.

“We’re trying to leverage our resources, and we’re not doing it for all this federal money that’s out there. That’s the key,” he said. “We’ll take advantage of all the great things that happened in the past, but we’re going to have to keep growing and getting stronger and stronger to move the needle.”

Morrisey didn’t announce a major economic development at the Business Summit, but said news of his energy plan will be shared in the coming weeks.

The governor also touted digital investments and a complete overhaul of Workforce West Virginia’s website and “the overall functionality of the agency” in an effort to boost the state’s poor workforce participation.

“We have some new people and we’re going to drive that process forward,” he said.

Morrisey also noted the loss of Supreme Court Justice Tim Armstead, former Speaker of the House, who died Tuesday. The governor ordered that flags at all state-owned facilities be displayed at half-staff yesterday to commemorate the life of Justice Armstead.