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Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said the fact
that overall pay in West Virginia is among the lowest in the nation is troubling.
"It's a matter of great concern. We looked at this closely two weeks ago when a
national magazine ranked West Virginia as being among the top states to locate a
new business.
We were puzzled by that," because West Virginia lost 35,100 jobs over the last year,
Roberts said. The actual jobs that have left the state have been little reported, and
may be a major factor in why the state is having budget problems.
Then chamber officials discovered that the trade publication's ranking was heavily
weighted on wage rates, Roberts said.
"What they are saying is, you can employ people less expensively in West Virginia
because you have to pay them less.
"Anything that can get people to locate here is a good thing. What we are concerned
about is if all we have to advertise is 'Come to West Virginia, people will work cheap,'
that is not enough."
State universities' research shows that the work force of the future must be better
educated and that the more education someone has, the more money he can make,
Roberts said.
"If we are going to move our household and per capita income up from 50th and 49th
. . . and give people more money to spend, we are going to have to create better
paying jobs. And it would appear we are not doing that."
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