West Virginia’s business climate was ranked dead last AGAIN! This time, Forbes Magazine ranks West Virginia as the worst state in the nation for business for the second year in a row. Are any of West Virginia’s politicians beginning to detect a pattern here?

Click here to check out the latest Forbes rankings.

By now, most West Virginians are in agreement that Governor Joe Manchin’s “Open for Business” slogan was a complete and utter joke. Unfortunately, the reminders of just how “Closed for Business” our state is keep rolling in. Last week, DialAmerica Marketing – which makes marketing calls for Fortune 500 companies – closed its South Charleston facility, costing our state another 160 jobs.

Less than a week later, the buzzards…um, lawyers are already picking at the remains. A local lawyer has filed a lawsuit against DialAmerica for failing to adequately warn its employees of the closure. Give us a break! West Virginia’s trial bar has already tried its best to sue many employers out of business here. Now they want to make it state policy to sue the businesses for going out of business?

Just the other day, one of the longest serving tenants in the Charleston Town Center’s history – Bennigan’s Restaurant – was forced to close its doors. Watch out Bennigan’s! Somewhere in Charleston, there’s a personal injury lawyer who is probably drafting the lawsuit against you right now.

It’s no wonder that West Virginia is one of only a handful of states with no listings on the Fortune 500.

Recent U.S. Census Bureau figures seem to further debunk our state’s temporary “Open for Business” motto. The Charleston Gazette reports this morning that only two of West Virginia’s largest cities – Morgantown & Martinsburg – have experienced significant population growth over the last seven years. Much of Martinsburg’s population growth can be attributed to the Eastern Panhandle’s growing number of Washington D.C. commuters – people who live in our state but drive out-of-state for their jobs. Nothing says closed for business like a large sector of the population willing to leave the state on a daily basis to work elsewhere.

West Virginia is also suffering through a “negative natural increase” in population. In other words, there have been more deaths than births in West Virginia over the past seven years. Surely, this figure is caused in some part by the fact that so many younger West Virginians have left the state for greener job markets. Chances are there are more native West Virginians living in Charlotte, NC than there are in many of our state’s smaller cities.

Politicians need to get smart when it comes to our state’s declining population. Snappy slogans and shifting city limits won’t actually solve the problems facing our state. It’s about time for meaningful reforms that would energize our state’s job market and attract younger natives back to their home state.

Click here to check out the Gazette’s article.

Karlin Calling…With Al Karlin’s ascent as new head of the state association of plaintiffs lawyers, look for a more communicative leadership style in the executive suite of the West Virginia personal injury bar. Karlin, you recall, was among the countless contacts Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher made from his state-issued cell phone that January weekend before old vaction photos of the Chief Justice mysteriously surfaced. Karlin’s connections even extend to the law school faculty of West Virginia University, evidenced by e-mail exchanges he had with twice-failed, ethically challenged high court candidate Bob Bastress about the professor’s campaign - political communication from the school’s computer system. Judged by the company you keep?