Gov. Patrick Morrisey makes an economic development announcement at Greenbrier State Forest on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025.
Governor's Office | Courtesy photo
West Virginia's prospects for attracting new businesses may rest more on cutting through red tape and streamlining the regulatory process than in competing in big-dollar bidding wars with other states over incentives to lure new commercial enterprises to the state.
That was the message Gov. Patrick Morrisey imparted to a group of economic development officials gathered in Greenbrier State Forest on Friday in announcing $525,000 worth of Site Readiness Grants to seven industrial parks scattered across six West Virginia counties.
While the state will continue to try to incentivize high-profile businesses into locating here, it should also develop and promote "a regulatory system that moves lightning fast," Morrisey said. "That's what we've been doing in West Virginia," he said, through a new system of one-stop shopping for permits and licenses.
"One thing business cares about is being able to build at the pace it wants," the governor said. "So, if you're a business and you want red tape cut faster than anywhere else, you come to West Virginia."
Having a variety of sites that are ready to build on, already equipped with water, sewer, power, high-speed internet and direct access to transportation further enhance the state's ability to attract new businesses and allow existing ones to expand, Morrisey said.Â
To that end, Morrisey announced the awarding of $75,000 Site Readiness Grants to each of seven industrial parks and industrial sites in six counties. The funds will be used to pay for architectural or engineering needs, or studies that need to be completed before development can begin.
"I can talk to companies about amazing places like this, about workforce and about incentives, but if I don't have a place for that business to land, that conversation's not going anywhere," Ruthana Beezley, executive director of the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation, said after Morrisey's remarks.
Beezley's organization received one of the $75,000 grants, which will help develop its 30-acre Harts Run Industrial Site adjacent to Interstate 64 at White Sulphur Springs.
Also receiving the grants were:
Brooke County: Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle, for the Beech Bottom Industrial Park in Wheeling
Cabell County: Huntington Area Development Council, for the Aldridge Industrial Site near Green Bottom
Lincoln County: Lincoln Economic Development Authority, for the Lincoln Business Park near Hamlin
