Business Attraction West Virginia can lead the nation'

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Business Attraction West Virginia can lead the
nation.
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My experienceFormer Chairman,
Entrepreneurship Committee, Vision Shared
served as the architect of its BlueprintAttorn
ey Counsel, Steptoe Johnson serve as
counsel to start-up and developing
companiesPublisher, WVInc. statewide business
magazine focused on entrepreneurship and growing
companies
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West Virginia is competing on a global level
If you are going to be in business, be no. 1 or
no. 2 or do something else. Jack Welch
Capabilities create intentions Thomas
Friedman, The World Is Flat (and many other
important points)
and global reputation matters.
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Reputational Measures(Without assessment of
reality)

• Forbes.com ranked West Virginia second to last in
  the nation (49th), ahead of only the
  hurricane-ravaged state of Louisiana in terms of
  Business Climate, and ranked West Virginia dead
  last in terms of Growth Prospects
• West Virginia was recently named the No. 1
  Judicial Hellhole in the nation by the American
  Tort Reform Foundation
• Survey of major employers ranked West Virginia as
  having the worst legal system in the nation.

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Reputational Measures (cont)

• Development Report Card for States (CFED.org)

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Reputation and Reality

• American Swiss Foundation
• Young Leaders Program
• Approximately 20 Americans from politics, media,
  and business including John Fund of the Wall
  Street Journal, two chiefs of staff for members
  of Congress, the editor of the National Journal,
  as well as national policy leaders from
  foundations throughout the country
• Approximately 30 Europeans mainly business
  leaders from companies such as Credit Suisse,
  Swiss Air, Swiss Reinsurance, Nestle, and others

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Switzerland
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About Switzerland

• Approximately 7.8 million people (no growth
  for decades)
• As of the early 20th century, a poor economy
• Landlocked
• Extremely mountainous
• SOUNDS LIKE WEST VIRGINIA
• LOOKS LIKE WEST VIRGINIA
• Virtually NO mineral resources must import
  almost all raw materials

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The Swiss Economy

• Reputation Reality for Excellence
• Banking
• Watches Clocks
• Chocolate
• Intense commitment to education literacy
  including a major focus on trades education
• Global reputation for high-quality manufacturing
  including high-tech products and pharmaceuticals

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Selling West Virginia

• Marketing West Virginia to potential investors
  such as Nestle beauty, location, and a great
  place to live

We could not invest in West Virginia with your
legal climate. Nestle representative
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What are global companies looking for?GLOBAL
EXCELLENCE The Swiss Model

• Excellent education system globally competitive
• Higher education
• Secondary elementary
• Trades education skilled labor and guest
  workers
• Favorable legal climate predictable court
  system
• Reasonable and predictable tax system
• Transportation and infrastructure
  EXPORTING/TRADE
• international/national airport no direct NYC
  routes

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The Swiss Model and West Virginia

• Incremental change is our enemy we must
  embrace bold actions to compete in the 21st
  century, global economy
• Adjusting at the margins does nothing
• Hoping that growth will come by doing the same
  old thing will result in more of the same
• Adopting a Swiss Model will enable West
  Virginia to lead the nation
• Embrace our culture while enabling excellence

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The Future is Now

• Education bold reforms to establish a
  world-class education system.
• Foreign languages
• comprehensive head start
• adjunct teacher corp. to leverage the private
  expertise of professionals in our communities
• Charter schools 40 states plus the DC have
  embraced the concept
• World-class vocational education build the most
  skilled workforce in the nation
• Higher education excellence
• Commitment to development of Entrepreneurship
  build Fortune 500 companies right here at home
• Tort Reform bold reforms to create the most
  favorable legal climate in the country.
• Medical monitoring
• Venue make West Virginia courts more accessible
  to West Virginia citizens
• Judicial selection, etc.
• Tax Reform create a tax system that encourages
  growth and investment
• Infrastructure development focus on
  trade/exporting we need to effectively
  determine and build a transportation system for
  the 21st century

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• What are we the very best at?
• Selling excellence sells itself.
• WE CAN BE THE SWITZERLAND OF THE 21ST CENTURY!
• If you are going to be in business, be No. 1 or
  No. 2 or do something else. Jack Welch