Industry presence/growth
With four of the world's largest chemical
firms and other chemical manufacturers
in the Chemical
Alliance Zone (CAZ), West Virginia
is home to one of the highest concentration
of chemical manufacturers in the world.
Producers include:
The state’s chemical industry
employed more than 10,000 workers
in 2006, ranking second nationally
in the proportion of the total work
force employed in that sector.
West Virginia ranked fifth nationally
in chemical industry gross state product (GSP) as percent
of total GSP and ninth in chemical
industry GSP per capita.
Labor
The average industry wage in West
Virginia is 94 percent of the average
wage in competing states and 89 percent
of the national average.
West Virginia’s talent pool
includes more than 30,000 trained
and technologically prepared:
- Production supervisors
- Chemical and environmental scientists
- Chemical plant and equipment operators
- Maintenance and repair workers
- Computer technicians
 Raw
materials
West Virginia has a vast supply of
industrial raw materials and base
stock necessary to produce specialty
chemicals.
The state has the second and third
highest concentration of industrial
chemicals and primary metals employment
in the nation on a per capita basis.
Technology
West Virginia is home to numerous
industry-designed academic and training
programs, including:
Other technology
MATRIC
is an emerging center of excellence
for research and innovation in the
disciplines of chemistry and chemical
products, biotechnology and biosciences
and software systems, especially in
the areas of confluence between two
or more of these disciplines.
Services include: 
- Research incubation of new products
and processes
- Provision of facilities and technical
talent for carrying out experimental
work from laboratory scale to production
scale
- Provision of other specialized
technical services that meet regional,
state and national needs
Interested in learning more about MATRIC?
Click
here.
Utilities
Industrial electrical rates in West
Virginia are the third lowest in the
nation.
Profitability
Specialty chemical establishments
in West Virginia typically realize
profit margins 1.7 percentage points
higher than competing states and 3.1
percentage points higher than the
national industry average.
|