A recent local news headline read: “Manufacturing plant moving from West Virginia to Ohio, creating new jobs.”

This is an unfortunate sign of the times for our state, which has lost the job-creating momentum created after business-friendly Republicans took control back in 2015.

Unfortunately, a lot of Republican politicians seem more focused on fighting culture wars and creating new opportunities for lawsuits than growing our economy.

Even though a majority of West Virginia voters want their leaders focused on economic growth, many legislators prioritize hot-button social issues that do nothing to help preserve and create jobs in the state.

Wheeling Delegate Bill Flanigan, who cares deeply about economic growth, expressed his frustration with this tendency when he jokingly reported to Wheeling Rotarians that “it seemed like if (a bill) didn’t deal with someone’s genitalia, we didn’t talk about it for a month.”

Northern Panhandle Sen. Ryan Weld addressed another distraction during a speech on the Senate floor against a bill preventing municipalities from passing non-discrimination ordinances (70% of West Virginians approve of such ordinances), when he said: “This is dumb. In West Virginia we like to say, ‘All are welcome.’ I’m not sure this helps with that message.”

The first wave of GOP governance promoted economic growth: prudent budgeting, the biggest tax cut in state history, dozens of legal reform bills, right-to-work legislation, and making community college free for workers entering high demand fields such as information technology and health care.

Prior to the pandemic, job growth in West Virginia was tracking 40% higher than the national average. But since then, as the West Virginia Legislature has spent more time debating fringe issues such as vaccines and food dyes than improving economic conditions in the state, our job growth is now lagging behind the national average. Indeed, in July 2025, West Virginia had 7,600 fewer jobs than it did in July 2024.

West Virginia voters are noticing this trend. Earlier this year, only 20% of West Virginians believed that their lives have gotten better in recent years, while 60% of voters want the legislature to focus on economic growth, compared to just 13% who prefer the focus on a social agenda.

West Virginia needs to grow its economy in two ways — financial incentives that lure or retain big employers (like the ones Ohio used to lure away the manufacturing company) and more general policies that support efforts by small- and medium-sized businesses like the ones I own.

Current leadership in our state Senate has apparently decided to do neither. The most recent legislative session has been criticized not only for doing little to improve on the economy, but for actually making the situation worse because of its “insatiable desire” to micro-manage the cities and towns that are our engines of economic growth, as State Treasurer (and successful businessman) Larry Pack recently bemoaned.

There is no easy solution to our state’s economic challenges, but we will not make progress unless we start electing accomplished local businesspeople who understand what is involved in creating private sector jobs.

That is why I was so pleased to see Joe Eddy, retired CEO of a large manufacturing company here in the Northern Panhandle, step up to run for State Senate, seeking to replace current Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, who focused her political capital on removing school vaccine requirements, contrary to the wishes of most of her constituents.

Coming from a family that has been involved in Republican politics for generations, I know firsthand that is not easy running for office or being an elected official. But neither is running a business.

In both instances, the successful leaders are thoughtful about how they focus their time and money and take care not to micromanage their strongest performers.

Now is the time for other businesspeople to consider stepping up, too — either by supporting locally respected business leaders like Joe Eddy who are running for office or by running for office themselves. If we want to build economically thriving communities that our children and grandchildren will choose to make their home, we have no choice.

David H. McKinley of Wheeling is the founder of Mountaineer Freedom Alliance and an eighth generation West Virginian. He is the principal owner of McKinley Carter Wealth Services, McKinley Architecture and Engineering, Omni Strategic Technologies, Beyond Marketing, Willow Glen Capital, and McKinley Properties. Among his roles in the community, he serves as chair of the board of governors at West Liberty University, is a Wheeling Park Commissioner overseeing Oglebay Park and Wheeling Park, and is on the executive committee of the Regional Economic Development Partnership.