Investment in technology is the key to formulating a new economy in West Virginia.
It was recently reported in the Gazette on January 5, 2008, wary employers clamped down on hiring and pushed the national unemployment rate to a two-year high of 5 percent in December, an ominous sign that the economy may slide into recession.
It is vital that the West Virginia Legislature operate pro-actively to deal with the economic realities of the moment. Only aggressive action will assure West Virginians the chance to remain prosperous.
There are untapped opportunities in West Virginia with the potential to create a wave of economic ripples we could all be excited about. The question is : do we have the political will? It is essential to the continued growth and economic success of West Virginia that we invest a greater share of our precious development dollars to assist industry, non-profit and university research programs in creating technologically advanced intellectual property and start-up companies that manufacture products and employ people right here in West Virginia. This private public partnership will spark investment in our area and job growth with the potential to convert the chemical valley to the next Silicon Valley east of the Mississippi.
I recently attended a conference at the legislature held by Industries of the Future - West Virginia (IOF-WV), which is a partnership program that works with energy-intensive industries to increase energy efficiency, reduce waste and increase productivity. While at the conference, and since then, I spoke to Kieth Pauley, President and CEO of South Charleston’s MATRIC and David Ball, project manager for a company called Battelle. Mr. Ball oversees the Midwestern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership funded by the Department of Energy covering 8 states. Based on the conversations with them, and what I have learned at the conference, I am very excited about what we are doing in the Kanawha Valley and in West Virginia in general. Here are a few examples of the kind of economic development that can come about from high technological research. Herculean efforts are currently underway at AEPs Mountaineer Plant in New Haven, West Virginia to inject the CO2 captured from the plant back into the ground through a process called sequestration. Through their research, a company called Battelle is trying to stabilize and increase US reliance on coal as an energy source by neutralizing CO2 emissions. This type of research is essential to freeing the US from the bonds of foreign oil. According to David A. Ball, more than a gigatonne per year (3,000 Empire State Buildings worth) of CO2 is being released into to our atmosphere globally. If we can capture and inject some of the CO2 emissions from coal burning energy plants back into the ground we could develop coal into a clean – carbon neutral energy source. It is both an economic and moral imperative that we invest in this research to achieve this goal. We should be proud that West Virginia is at the forefront of this endeavor.
Right now, in West Virginia, advanced software is being developed for NASA’s next generation space ships and helping design the moon colony. Even more impressive, researchers at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery have developed a relatively inexpensive method for removing mercury from the coal sludge ponds that dot the landscape of West Virginia and other mining areas across the country. It is a biochemical reaction where bacteria are regenerated to eat mercury. The university has two patents pending on the process and initial results show the process to be highly effective.
Not many know that West Virginia is the 2nd most forested state in the U.S. As a result, a huge amount of wood chips are produced as waste which could potentially be converted to fuel. We should develop and fund research to make this natural byproduct of the forest industry into fuel. It is an abundant renewable natural resource we have in West Virginia and developing energy diversification processes such as this translate into good paying jobs for the people of West Virginia and a break for our environment as an alternative to fossil fuels.
All of the above are areas with the potential to spark economic development and create jobs in West Virginia. West Virginians are creative and resourceful people with the ability to develope new ideas and make things happen. We need to continue to invest in our future and get excited about what West Virginia has to offer the country. Coal is not the only “natural resource” West Virginia has to offer; her citizens are by far her greatest asset.
The Governor has set programs into motion such as his Bucks for Jobs program and other promising economic development programs. Our Governor is right on track. But we can do more. While our neighbor States are investing $350 million dollars in similar economic development programs, we are investing $50 million in the Bucks for Jobs program. This should only be a down payment for future investment in West Virginia. We must further work to reduce the business franchise tax, especially for start up companies that want to grow in West Virginia.
If we are to avert the economic impact of any possible national recession, we must invest in this type of economic development now to secure economic returns for the long run. We need to establish a High Technology Economic Development Bank that will take calculated risks with seed money to invest in start up companies to kick start development and provide more high paying jobs. There are wonderful things happening in West Virginia. Investment in technology is the key to formulating a new economy in West Virginia.
Roger A. Decanio
www.rogerdecanio.com
