West Virginia Chamber of Commerce eyes urban growth
September 9, 2026
CHARLESTON, W.Va (WOWK) — As state leaders highlight large, private investments in energy and manufacturing, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce sees future prosperity in the Mountain State’s urban centers.
One of the many speakers appearing at the Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit last week, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, highlighted that he’s been able to announce a total of $96 billion in private investments since taking office.
“We have got to have economic progress in West Virginia…We are not having great job creation. We are not seeing our gross state product move up relative to other states. The chamber just did a study on this,” says Steve Roberts, President of the Chamber of Commerce.
“The rising tide lifts all boats,” he tells 13 News. “If we can get more economic development happening in parts of West Virginia, that will have an impact throughout West Virginia, because it adds to the opportunity for jobs. It adds to the opportunity for more tax collections, and it adds to quality of life.”
Roberts says he acknowledges the state’s energy dominance. The vast majority of economic announcements by the governor were in the energy sector, with data center development coming in a close second.
But beyond that, the Chamber of Commerce sees the Mountain State’s future successes outside of just manufacturing and energy production.
“We’ve long believed that in West Virginia, we can have places of prosperity and that those places of prosperity are most likely our urban communities,” he tells 13 News. “If we concentrate our efforts on solving problems in urban communities, we will be able to then have the jobs that people want to come to. And instead of necessarily having to go to Ohio or Columbus, they could go to Huntington or Charleston or Parkersburg or Morgantown or Wheeling.”
Potentially, he says, urban growth could be an answer to the state’s declining population.
“We’re seeing communities, especially in southern West Virginia, that, a generation ago had 100,000 people living in the community, and now they’re down to 15 and 17,000 people,” he says. “Well, that’s because the economy has changed. And we’ve got to, as a state, change with the changing times.”
Story by Maddy Sperling, WOWK 13 News