Area Development, a leading publication covering site selection and facility planning, has honored West Virginia with a Silver Shovel award. The award is presented in recognition of states that have achieved significant success in terms of economic impact and jobs creation.
This marks the first time in the award’s eight-year history that West Virginia has received the Silver Shovel designation.
Area Development invites each of the 50 states to submit information on its top 10 projects that began in 2012. The Shovel Awards are given to the states with the highest weighted scores based on number of high-value added jobs per capita, amount of investment, number of new facilities, and industry diversity.
States compete against other states of comparable population size. West Virginia qualified for a Silver Shovel award in the fewer than 3 million population category.
“The states receiving 2013 Shovel Awards deserve special recognition for their efforts to attract new businesses and to help their existing corporate citizens to expand their businesses,” said Geraldine Gambale, editor of Area Development. “They have managed to thrive and emerge from the recession as economic leaders.”
