WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS: A variety of issues regarding business and education will be discussed during the West Virginia (WV) Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Annual Meeting & Business Summit at the Greenbrier Resort.“These are challenging times for many people in West Virginia,” said Chamber President Steve Roberts. “We really need to create more jobs and attract more business into West Virginia.
”The three-day meeting will be held Wednesday through Friday. It will include the state’s largest gathering of business, financial, education and policy leaders to talk about the future of the state.The Chamber will hear from state leaders such as Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, along with former Vice President Dick Cheney .
Topics up for discussion will include schools, job creation, workforce, energy and the environment, intellectual property issues and the recently-concluded 2015 Legislative Session. Roberts said one topic the state has “seemed to overlook” is manufacturing when it comes to the recent blow on coal companies this year. “Thirty years ago we had 130,000 manufacturing jobs in West Virginia.
We have about 48,000 manufacturing jobs, so it’s a real big loss,” he said.The creation of jobs in the banking and insurance industry has helped, he said, but more needs to be done. He said that includes more state promotion. Members in all 55 West Virginia counties make up the Chamber who employs over half of the state’s workforce.
