By Damian Phillips, The Exponent Telegram
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Momentum is a defining force in the future economic prosperity or stagnation of a region.
But several West Virginia counties have turned the tide from struggling to succeeding.
“I’m hopeful altogether. We do have some counties that are struggling, some counties that are going to continue to struggle, but my latest forecast showed that we’re going to have more growing counties,” said West Virginia University economist John Deskins.
Over the last decade, less than half of West Virginia counties saw growth in terms of employment. Deskins’ latest forecast showed that the number of growing counties would increase from 20 to 25.
“We’ve got more counties that are moving into the right category. It’s not 55 counties, it’s not going to be all 55 counties anytime soon,” Deskins said. “The bottom line is: Many of our regions are struggling.”
