By Greg Stone, The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The director of West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research outlined familiar business woes Wednesday during the 29th annual West Virginia Economic Outlook Conference.
John Deskins, who delivered the keynote address at Embassy Suites in front of a crowd of about 200, rattled off a somewhat depressing list of data-supported points:
The state’s only growing population is older than 65.
The state leads the country in drug overdoses by a whopping margin.
Its 55% workforce participation rate ranks last in the nation by a full 7 percentage points.
The state’s percentage of bachelor’s degree recipients is 11% lower than the national average…