Create West Virginia

How Quickly Lists Change

For several years, West Virginians have lamented the steady flow of "first on bad lists, last on good lists" syndrome. Some people dismissed the lists as biased, others just shrugged and figured that's where West Virginia will most likely be for some time.

However, the misfortunes of the rest of the country and the relative stability of West Virginia's economy recently have elevated us on some recent lists. Now that we're getting some credit at the top, maybe it's time to start touting them.

Careerbuilders.com recently listed the "Top 25 Best Markets to Find a Job." After years of seeing young people leave the state to find jobs, West Virginians might scratch their heads and allow themselves a little bit of glee to see that we have two cities in the national top 25 list - Morgantown and Charleston!

The list was generated by looking at unemployment rates and job growth. West Virginia currently has a very low unemployment rate and Morgantown in particular has a high job growth rate. The rest of the Top 25 were mostly Western cities.

Of course, each city in West Virginia is showing well for different reasons. In Charleston, the energy boom with coal and natural gas has stimulated the region. In Morgantown, the growth of high-tech and university/research organizations has driven growth.

Whatever the reasons, it's nice to be on top for a change. And here's hoping we stay there for a while. 

West Virginia - A Leader in Social Networking?

The Governor's announcement of a statewide social networking platform for students to connect with each other across the state and ask each other questions has earned national attention from such hip marketing sites as Buzz Marketing Daily. (Stop by and let them know just how cool our state is with a comment).

Create WV and many others around the state have enjoyed finding one another and sharing creative thoughts via blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other tools. Check out the great blogs covering the creative communities topic found on A Better West Virginia.

If you haven't tried Facebook, Twitter or blogging yet, give it a try. You'll find a lot of new friends around West Virginia and around the world. And don't forget to make Create WV a "friend" on your new social network!

What is Our State's Personality Profile?

When folks think of living in West Virginia, being too stressed out usually isn't top of their mind in terms of things to worry about. In fact, it's usually the opposite. But yet researchers at the University of Cambridge put West Virginia at the top of another "bad" list - states with the highest percentage of stressed-out people.

"I've only driven through West Virginia, but it did surprise me that West Virginia was No. 1," said Dr. Jason Rentfrow, the study's author and a social and political science lecturer at Cambridge in England. "It didn't surprise me that the mid-Atlantic states were high. It may be that neuroticism is high in some states for different reasons." 

While we may not have the stand-still traffic, high crime and high cost of living to stress us out, the researchers found a connection between stress and poor health. And boy is West Virginia at the top of many poor health lists. We don't exercises nearly enough. We have sky high rates of heart disease and cancer rates. And our life spans are shorter than almost anywhere else in the United States. That's pretty stressful.

The University of Cambridge study actually provided a deep look into a lot of interesting factors relating to geographic differences in psychological characteristics. For example:

• For "Extraversion" we're in the 3rd quintile, meaning we're about average vs. other states.
• For "Agreeableness" we're 4th quintile - In this study, we don't come across as warm, compassionate and friendly as other states - that seems opposite of our image.
• For "Conscientious" we're 4th quintile for dutifulness, responsibility and self-discipline.
• For "Neuroticism" we're in the 1st quintile, meaning...we're super stressed, mostly due to heath reasons.

All of these studies come down to what criteria the researcher included to make their calculations, but after reviewing the research it is a pretty interesting look into aspects of our culture that may in fact be inhibiting our growth.

USAirways to Feature West Virginia in November

An exciting opportunity announced by the WV Commerce Department:

US Airways Magazine will profile West Virginia as part of its business series in the November 2008 issue of its in-flight magazine, reaching about 6.8 million affluent business and leisure travelers who fly the airline to more than 235 destinations in 32 countries.

Running approximately 24 pages in length, the profile will be devoted to showcasing the state's emerging technologies, energy solutions, key industries, academic institutions and healthcare advances. This special section will also promote the outstanding opportunities and quality of life that West Virginia offers to businesses and individuals who relocate here.

Contact Carsten Morgan about story ideas or ads by September 15, 2008. Morgan may be reached by email [email protected], or by phone 610-438-1190. You can download the rate card at http://www.wvopenforbusiness.com/USAir/USAir_WVProfile_08rates.pdf and an introduction from Kelley Goes, cabinet secretary, WV Department of Commerce, at www.wvopenforbusiness.com/USAir/USAir_intro_letter090208.pdf.