MAYBE West Virginia has gotten so used to economic failure that it's having trouble handling a little success.
The Marcellus shale gas boom has increased the demand for workers in drilling and related industries in the state, but the frequent complaint is that these companies are not hiring enough West Virginia workers.
Anecdotally, you hear grumbling about all the out-of-state license plates and workers who aren't from around here. Some of the carping is even tinged with bigotry because of an influx of Hispanic workers.
The proposed Marcellus shale regulatory bill even includes a provision requiring any business associated with drilling to report to the state Division of Labor how many out-of-state workers versus in-state workers are employed, and how much they are paid.
West Virginia has been on such an economically depressed island for so long, and so many of our people have left for jobs in other states, that when people come here to work, it looks and feels strange.
Dominion Transmission is building a $500 million natural gas processing plant along the Ohio River near New Martinsville. The contractor retained by the company has hired 88 construction workers so far and 57 of them are local.
Additionally, six of the seven subcontractors are union.
Still, the West Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council is upset with Dominion for not hiring more West Virginians. The union is running a media campaign with TV commercials and signs that target Dominion.
Dominion has operated in the region for over 100 years. It has 1,400 employees in the state, with nearly 80 percent represented by various unions.
The union's criticism of Dominion and its insistence that the company go to even greater lengths to hire West Virginia workers - or perhaps just union workers - is a stretch.
As we speak, giant energy companies, including Shell, are deciding where to make a multi-billion dollar investment for an ethane cracker facility. West Virginia is in the running.
The nitpicking PR campaign by the Trades Council can't help West Virginia's business image at this critical time.
Meanwhile, the Independent Oil and Gas Association is holding a job fair in Moundsville today. Forty companies will be represented, looking for hundreds of workers, according IOGA's Doug Malcolm.
"These companies want to hire workers," Malcolm told me on Talkline Tuesday. "They're bending over backwards to help you get prepared for a job."
Chicago Bridge and Iron, the Texas-based company that is building Dominion's processing plant, will be among the companies at the job fair. In addition, CB&I has opened a hiring office in New Martinsville to help fill new positions.
It's shortsighted to use government fiat or union harassment to try to make sure West Virginians are always the first choice for these jobs. Many hard-working West Virginians are already seeing the benefits of the gas boom, and there's more to come.
West Virginia has to break out of this parochial mindset. It's natural and positive that economic development will bring some new people to our state. That's a good thing.
With any luck, the best of them will settle down here and become productive, taxpaying West Virginians.
Lord knows we could use them.
The Marcellus shale gas boom has increased the demand for workers in drilling and related industries in the state, but the frequent complaint is that these companies are not hiring enough West Virginia workers.
Anecdotally, you hear grumbling about all the out-of-state license plates and workers who aren't from around here. Some of the carping is even tinged with bigotry because of an influx of Hispanic workers.
The proposed Marcellus shale regulatory bill even includes a provision requiring any business associated with drilling to report to the state Division of Labor how many out-of-state workers versus in-state workers are employed, and how much they are paid.
West Virginia has been on such an economically depressed island for so long, and so many of our people have left for jobs in other states, that when people come here to work, it looks and feels strange.
Dominion Transmission is building a $500 million natural gas processing plant along the Ohio River near New Martinsville. The contractor retained by the company has hired 88 construction workers so far and 57 of them are local.
Additionally, six of the seven subcontractors are union.
Still, the West Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council is upset with Dominion for not hiring more West Virginians. The union is running a media campaign with TV commercials and signs that target Dominion.
Dominion has operated in the region for over 100 years. It has 1,400 employees in the state, with nearly 80 percent represented by various unions.
The union's criticism of Dominion and its insistence that the company go to even greater lengths to hire West Virginia workers - or perhaps just union workers - is a stretch.
As we speak, giant energy companies, including Shell, are deciding where to make a multi-billion dollar investment for an ethane cracker facility. West Virginia is in the running.
The nitpicking PR campaign by the Trades Council can't help West Virginia's business image at this critical time.
Meanwhile, the Independent Oil and Gas Association is holding a job fair in Moundsville today. Forty companies will be represented, looking for hundreds of workers, according IOGA's Doug Malcolm.
"These companies want to hire workers," Malcolm told me on Talkline Tuesday. "They're bending over backwards to help you get prepared for a job."
Chicago Bridge and Iron, the Texas-based company that is building Dominion's processing plant, will be among the companies at the job fair. In addition, CB&I has opened a hiring office in New Martinsville to help fill new positions.
It's shortsighted to use government fiat or union harassment to try to make sure West Virginians are always the first choice for these jobs. Many hard-working West Virginians are already seeing the benefits of the gas boom, and there's more to come.
West Virginia has to break out of this parochial mindset. It's natural and positive that economic development will bring some new people to our state. That's a good thing.
With any luck, the best of them will settle down here and become productive, taxpaying West Virginians.
Lord knows we could use them.
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