West Virginia is asserting its distinctiveness and attracting businesses that are looking for the right combination of advantages. The state has a host of built-in advantages, including a central location that places it within overnight reach of 60 percent of the U.S. population, and an abundance of natural resources.

It also boasts the lowest crime rate in the country, health care costs that are 20 percent below the national average, the nation's fourth-lowest average industrial electricity rates, and the nation's eighth-lowest average industrial gas rates.

The Mountain State has combined these advantages with an extensive list of government-sponsored incentives to create a business atmosphere that attracts companies from diverse economic sectors.

An Incentive to Move

Bruce Hardwood Flooring is taking advantage of one program, the Governor's Guaranteed Work Force Program. The program provides customized training grants of up to $1,000 per employee to qualifying new and expanding businesses, and those that are retraining employees.

The flooring manufacturer will add 92 new jobs and new production lines to its facility near Elkins. With nearly 900 employees (after the expansion), the company is taking full advantage of the training program.

This wasn't the only reason the company chose West Virginia.

"Our location, in the heart of the West Virginia hardwood region, is exactly the right spot for our company," said Rod Rogers, the company's human resource director. "Plus, we have access to some of the best workers anywhere."

State Impresses Other Companies

New West Newspapers Inc. also chose a West Virginia site for specific reasons. The company, which owns newspapers in West Virginia and five other states, recently made Jackson County its eastern headquarters. It purchased an existing operation there and is planning to expand its building and employee base.

"[West Virginia] made the strongest case of any state," said Bill Welsh, president of New West.

West Virginia's central-eastern location helped the state attract PWP Industries, a California-based PET plastic packaging manufacturer. The company is investing $10 million to purchase a 120,000 square foot shell building in Parkersburg and create up to 130 new jobs.

"The work force in West Virginia is outstanding and the proximity of this new location to our customers will improve our delivery time," said Leon Farahnik, chairman of HPC Industries, the parent company of PWP.

InfoAccess Services Inc. was attracted to West Virginia, partly because of the state's easy access.

The Canadian company, which provides multiple-format document publishing for people who are visually impaired, and those who are deaf or hard of hearing, is investing $250,000 to locate a facility in Romney and create seven jobs.

"The Romney location is within a day's drive of most major Eastern and Midwestern cities," said Len Fowler, president and CEO of T-Base Communications Inc., the parent company of InfoAccess. "West Virginia offers a place with an aggressive education program. An added plus is the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind."

Ann Morris is a freelance business writer based in Leawood, Kan.