Chinese Toy problem and WV can't take advantage

It hasn't been that long ago that West Virginia was a major player in the toy manufacturing market. Louis Marx toy company was the largest in the world and at one time had its largest plant located in Glen Dale, WV.

If your 30 or older most likely you had a Marx toy as a kid growing up. I had a Big Wheel like the one in the picture.

All of that is gone now like much of West Virginia's manufacturing. Now many will say that Marx being sold and cheap Chinese imports played a part in the demise of the company. For the most part they would be right, but West Virginia's poor business climate played a part as well.

If West Virginia had a good business climate we could take advantage of the problems in the current toy industry. Right now the consumers are demanding US made toys for the safety of their children.

Toys are a business opportunity for a company in the United States, but West Virginia is the last place you would want to start a business. West Virginia has everything going for it to start a business the best people and workers in the nation, the best location for shipping, and abundant natural resources. The reason West Virginia is the last place in the US is because of the business climate. The following things need fixed to help our economy.

• Tax Reform - West Virginia's tax structure runs off business and prevents new business from locating here. Since 1950 WV has fallen from 1.3% of the US to 0.6% of the US population because nobody wants to run a business here.
  
• Worker Comp Reform - West Virginia has the highest workers comp rates in the nation, double the second worse (California). Those rates prevent businesses from locating here. Cost are simply to high.
• Tort Reform - West Virginia has been identified as the Judicial Hell Hole of the US by the US Chamber of Commerce. That is not a dig on WV, that is a respected organization telling the people of this state what needs fixed. Foxnews on Thanksgiving Day made a comment about how bad the legal system was in WV.

It is not a secret what we need to fix. To most people around the US is obvious. The only ones that can't seem to see it are those in control of the state legislature. Those in control of the state legislature should listen to Winston Churchill when he said, "Some see private enterprise as a predatory target to be shot, others as a cow to be milked, but few are those who see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon." Let's trough off the restraints on the states businesses and let them pull the economic wagon forward.