Photo by Joselyn King West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack makes a stop at The Health Plan offices during a visit to Wheeling on Wednesday.

WHEELING – Local businesses and those across West Virginia have a need for additional workers, according to West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack.

Pack made stops in Wheeling throughout the day on Wednesday, and met with various industry groups in Ohio County.

He reported many indicated workforce issues as their biggest challenge.

“For the first time I can remember, we have more jobs than people, so we need people to move to West Virginia,” Pack said. “We need West Virginians to come back home. We have a lot of good jobs, and we need people to fill them.”

Adult learning programs and community colleges must play a role, he said.

“We never quit learning in our economy,” Pack continued. “We are always learning new things. We just have to make sure we have the education opportunities available for the businesses that want to come in.”

He was asked what the treasurer’s office can do to help.

“We advocate for those programs,” Pack explained. “We also advocate for the college savings programs, the Jumpstart programs – we just bring awareness wherever we can. We also encourage changes we think there need to be to give our colleges and public schools more flexibility to meet the needs of today’s business.”

In the afternoon, he toured The Health Plan building in downtown Wheeling and noted health insurance benefits are an important issue for both employers and their workers. Both want to know how health insurance benefits can be contained.

There is a need for trained workers, but they don’t necessarily have to have four-year degrees. Pack continued. Often, training and certification in a specific field is all that is needed.

Pack said he spoke with local business leaders about some of the economic growth that is happening in Wheeling.

“There are renovations of buildings where people are taking them on and using state rehabilitation credits to make the numbers work for the building and bring businesses back to Ohio County,” he noted.

Business people also spoke about getting the Streetscape project completed with hopes that will bring more business to the downtown, Pack reported.

“It’s kind of hard to get around downtown, but we see a lot of good things there,” he said. “There’s a lot of activity and a lot of ideas.

“Sometimes it just takes longer to get things going, but Wheeling is on the move. Ohio County is moving forward. We want to do everything we can in Charleston to try and help.”

Also on Wednesday, Pack reported he spoke with the Most Rev. Mark Brennan, Bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, about the effect the Hope Scholarship is having on Catholic education.

They talked about how important it is for parents to take charge of their children’s education, that it is the parents’ responsibility to do so, and how parents are using the Hope Scholarship for their students’ education, according to Brennan.

“Education is not a one-size-fits all opportunity,” he said. “Some kids do well in public schools, some in private schools, and some in homeschool. The Hope Scholarship gives parents with moderate incomes a chance to make that choice.

“I would say most West Virgnians didn’t even have an opportunity before to have a discussion around the kitchen table about what kind of education their child should have. They didn’t have $4,000 a child for that opportunity, and now they are having those discussions.”

The West Virginia Treasurer’s Office also administers the West Virginia Smart 529 college savings plan.