West Virginia's 2025: Bold Energy Investments and Business Reforms Compete With Structural Headwinds
When states emerge from economic decline, it takes more than good policy; it takes determination, strategic partnerships, and a willingness to bet on yourself. West Virginia's 2025 demonstrated all three. Governor Patrick Morrisey's administration secured over $4 billion in private-sector energy investments in a single month, attracted Toyota's continued commitment with hundreds of millions in manufacturing investment, and passed sweeping reforms to streamline licensing and permitting. Yet even as these wins accumulate, West Virginia faces structural challenges that no single policy can solve: a shrinking labor force, inadequate infrastructure for major corporate projects, and the lingering effects of economic decline. As the Mountain State closes 2025, it's clear that progress is real but fragile, and that winning the future requires addressing both business fundamentals and the underlying workforce challenges that make growth sustainable.
The Wins: West Virginia's Business Comeback Gains Momentum
West Virginia entered 2025 with a pro-business administration committed to cutting red tape, streamlining regulations, and competing for major investments. The results have been remarkable and suggest that decades of economic decline may finally be reversing.
The Microgrid and Data Center Programs: Competing with Neighbors
House Bill 2014 creates the Microgrid Development Program and High Impact Data Center Program, positioning West Virginia to compete with its neighbors through site-selection assistance, removal of regulatory barriers, and a pro-business posture that has lowered taxes and removed restrictions across industries.
This isn't a mere handout. It's a concerted effort of streamlined regulations and incentives for economic prosperity. HB 2014 explicitly stipulates that certification and location decisions must result in "significant and positive economic impact on the state." West Virginia is betting on itself, creating conditions for companies to invest without bureaucratic obstacles.
The One-Stop Shop Permitting Program and Universal Licensing Reciprocity
West Virginia also passed HB 2002 and SB 458, creating a centralized, online permitting dashboard and universal professional licensing processes.
HB 2002 creates a single, online permitting portal where businesses can view a variety of permits, licenses, and registration information in one place. Businesses can view, save, and submit applications and pay fees to various state-level organizations through private accounts – a massive time-saver for entrepreneurs and expanding companies.
SB 458 goes further by allowing professionals like contractors, engineers, nurses, and realtors to use their out-of-state licenses in West Virginia, provided they are qualified and establish residency in the state.
Simplifying the licensing process and registration requirements makes West Virginia far more attractive to founders and company executives. Governor Morrisey has said "speed is a priority" in his economic strategy, and an online, simplified dashboard certainly reduces regulatory burden. Universal licensing reciprocity means professionals from other states can more easily practice in West Virginia, attracting talent while speeding the hiring process and helping new workers become productive immediately.
$4.2 Billion in Private-Sector Energy Investments: A Historic Month
In November 2025, Governor Morrisey announced a stunning collection of energy investments totaling more than $4 billion—achieved with minimal state investment. These announcements represent West Virginia's continued efforts to expand overall energy output by approximately threefold by 2050.
The package includes:
Natural Gas Power Plant: First Energy announced a new natural gas power plant that will create 3,200 construction jobs and power future manufacturing and data center growth.
Coal Plant Refurbishment: Projects totaling $1.2 billion will extend the life of various coal plants across the state.
Gas-Fired Plant Partnership: Kindle Energy, Blackstone, and GE Vernova partnered on a new gas-fired plant creating over 800 construction jobs—without any state funding required.
Through lowering taxes, reducing regulatory burden, and partnering strategically with major business, Governor Morrisey has secured significant progress toward his ambitious energy goals with minimal necessary financial incentives provided to the private sector. Fostering these relationships, Morrisey has secured not only short-term job creation and capital flow but has taken a significant stride toward long-term energy stability and independence for the state.
These announcements are expected to create thousands of jobs for West Virginians and represent the kind of private capital commitment that can sustain growth for decades.
Toyota's Continued Commitment: $453 Million in West Virginia Manufacturing
In November 2025, Toyota announced a nearly one-billion-dollar investment across four states—West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. In West Virginia, $453 million is being allocated to Toyota's Buffalo plant, which already assembles more than one million engines, transmissions, and hybrid transaxles annually.
This November announcement builds on an additional investment by Toyota made in April 2025, which put nearly $90 million into West Virginia manufacturing. Combined, Toyota's total investment in Putnam County exceeds $3.3 billion.
The company's continued commitment to the facility reflects decades of partnership and trust between Toyota and West Virginia. The state has had an office of economic development in Japan since 1990: proof that long-lasting relationships between major companies and state leaders drive investment at this scale.
Investments of this magnitude underscore an important truth: once you build trust with major corporations, they stay and expand. Toyota's continued commitment is a testament to West Virginia's stable business environment and skilled workforce.
The company's broader investment goal of $10 billion over five years is meant to bolster U.S. manufacturing. Toyota assembles more than three-quarters of the vehicles it sells in the United States domestically, and West Virginia is part of that critical domestic manufacturing strategy.
The Setbacks: Structural Challenges That No Single Policy Can Solve
Despite impressive business wins, West Virginia faces underlying challenges that require more than regulatory reform and tax cuts to address. The state's shrinking labor force and inadequate infrastructure for major projects represent serious obstacles to sustained growth.
West Virginia's Declining Labor Force: The Real Constraint on Growth
West Virginia's Chamber of Commerce sounded an alarm in August 2025 over decreasing labor force participation and sluggish job growth relative to neighboring states. Year over year, West Virginia lost 7,600 workers, building on a troubling trend that dates back to 2019 before the COVID pandemic.
Several key industries saw employment declines from July 2024 to July 2025:
Mining lost 600 jobs
Manufacturing lost 200 jobs
Hospitality lost 2,700 jobs
Retail lost 600 jobs
This is the hard truth: while West Virginia has made strides in expanding energy and manufacturing industries, it hasn't fully offset declines across key sectors. Over the last decade, West Virginia has ranked last in the nation for the number of jobs added and has lost 0.2% of its population annually.
The policy insight here is critical: economic growth requires a two-pronged approach that tackles barriers facing both companies and workers. Governor Morrisey's focus on business deals, tax and regulation cuts, and industrial innovation is commendable and necessary. But without addressing the housing and childcare costs that keep workers out of the labor force, West Virginia will struggle to fully capitalize on major corporate investments.
SB 505: A Close Call on Energy Regulation
Senate Bill 505, the "Ensuring Reliable and Affordable Electricity Act," would have accomplished the opposite of its stated goal. The bill would have overly regulated energy production and exports, introducing regulatory burden on energy companies not seen in any other state.
Despite passing the State Senate in spring 2025, SB 505 has stalled in House Committee, and that's fortunate.
Energy companies strongly opposed SB 505, arguing that the bill "would significantly increase the complexity and cost of utility rate cases, ultimately driving up electric bills for hardworking West Virginians." This is an important economic principle: punitive regulations, even when intended to make things more affordable, often have the opposite effect when they place financial and regulatory burden on businesses.
Government intervention of this type raises costs in the short term and discourages long-term investment by nationwide companies by decreasing profitability in the state. West Virginia's energy sector is the foundation of Governor Morrisey's economic strategy, and SB 505 would have undermined it. The fact that the bill stalled is a stroke of fortune for the state’s business environment.
The Shovel-Ready Site Deficit: Expensive Oversight
For years, West Virginia has lagged its neighbors in "shovel-ready business sites,” which are properties ready for immediate construction upon purchase. While neighboring states like Kentucky and Virginia have dozens of sites available, West Virginia's old industrial sites lack access to critical infrastructure or require significant cleanup before new buildings can be constructed.
Here's what this cost West Virginia: opportunity. Lack of developable properties significantly hinders the state's ability to attract major businesses. Alabama had invested $30 million in site preparation, positioning itself perfectly for businesses to start building without delay. West Virginia's site readiness program, by comparison, only provides $150,000 grants and has been slow to produce results.
To attract big businesses and earn big wins, West Virginia can't shy away from betting on itself and preparing the state for success. The President of West Virginia's Chamber of Commerce said it plainly: "States that surround us are far ahead in having reasonable, well thought through and well-funded efforts to keep and attract jobs. This is simply a matter of priorities."
This is a critical insight: while West Virginia has secured major wins with Toyota and energy companies, the state may be leaving billions on the table because it hasn't invested adequately in basic business infrastructure. Better infrastructure could have prevented the Alabama loss in 2018 and could accelerate future deals.
What West Virginia's 2025 Teaches Us
West Virginia's 2025 is a story of genuine progress constrained by structural realities. Governor Morrisey's focus on business development has delivered impressive wins. The $4.2 billion in energy investments, Toyota's continued commitment, and the legislative progress on licensing and permitting all point to a state that has embraced pro-business policy.
But West Virginia's challenges reveal an important truth: policy reform alone isn't enough. States must address structural issues like shrinking labor force and lack of business sites that affect both businesses and workers.
Governor Morrisey's administration has gotten the policy basics right—and the results are visible in the major investments announced in 2025. But the real test will be whether West Virginia can sustain these wins by addressing the underlying workforce and infrastructure challenges that currently constrain growth.
As West Virginia heads into 2026, the state needs to pursue a comprehensive strategy: continue cutting red tape and reforming business policy, but simultaneously address labor force participation through affordable housing and childcare initiatives, and invest substantially in site readiness infrastructure to compete with neighboring states.
Because at the end of the day, what's good for business is good for West Virginia, and the states that combine pro-business policy with investments in workers and infrastructure are the ones that will build sustainable, inclusive economic growth for decades to come.