One should ask themselves why this is true. https://www.wvlt.tv/content/news/567951751.html
Apologies for the forthcoming rant.
Yes, this is the culmination of years and years of mismanagement by political leaders, business leaders, and those that claimed that they were “for economic development.”
Since I was in high school in the early 1980s, and I suspect much earlier, I have been told how the region was a juggernaut, ready to take off economically. Ha, it never has. It has never gotten to the runway to even try. It has never made more than small efforts for show and media.
If you want to take off economically, you must make the commitment. The problem is, our leaders are too tied to the here and now. Business leaders want low wages. They want to limit opportunity for workers to move, change jobs, and limit payrolls. Given a choice between investing in the unknown, or taking care of the buddies in the business community, they chose the business community every day and twice on sundays. The result has been that startups, innovation, and opportunity do not exist here in abundance. This is why I do my work outside the region.
Our political leaders, economic development leaders, chambers of commerce, etc have failed us. It has been this way since before I was born and will be this way for years after I am gone. Why? Because we let this happen. Given the choice between startups/innovation and new vs the existing system, they all choose the existing system. Not once will they speak up. Not once will they do things to promote startups and innovation. They would prefer to promote against local. It’s a sad shame, and the way it is.
