MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Small business confidence in West Virginia is reserved based on a report from the National Federation of Independent Business.
Director of the West Virginia chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Gil White, reported on WAJR’s Talk of the Town Friday that the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell by 2.3 points in January to 102.8, with the Uncertainty Index rising 14 points to 100, the third highest recorded reading. This comes after the third consecutive month of decreases in business owner confidence despite maintaining above the 51-year average of 98, which White feels is reflective of a combination of in-state and out-of-state factors.
“I can tell you that we’re experiencing those same issues in West Virginia (as we are in the rest of the U.S.),” said White. “And I hear from small business owners on a frequent basis expressing those concerns,” he said.
According to White, the most notable factor in the decline in small business confidence in the Mountain State is the ability to fill open positions. In statistics reported by the West Virginia NFIB, 35 percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the month of January, which was unchanged from December 2024. This lack of change has appeared to have also been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re still faced with a very challenging job market in the state of West Virginia, and that in itself, I believe, started through COVID, and we have never really recovered,” said White.
The second, equally important, factor that White also discussed is the continued impact inflation has had on the confidence of Mountain State small business owners. According to the NFIB report, around 18 percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, which reflected a decline in capital outlays (20 percent in January, down 7 percent from December 2024) and zero percent of owners reporting to have planned inventory investment. While the job market has not helped the situation for small businesses, inflation has grown to be just as concerning.
“The inflation numbers are still very concerning and cause problems when you’re a small business owner,” said White. “And if your net profits are marginal and inflation certainly takes a chunk out of that,” he said.
While the most recent sentiments of the NFIB continue to err on the side of caution, White and other small business supporters hope to see some action by state legislatures to address some of their needs. Though no plan was explicitly proposed, White openly expressed a desire to see some sort of job creation legislation or a program that could promote more small business development in the Mountain State. With 2025 still in the proverbial starting blocks, the West Virginia NFIB hopes to see action taken in the coming months.
“And we also hope that the state legislature takes this to heart,” said White. “And that they realize that there are struggling small business owners throughout their district and throughout the state of West Virginia that need creativity,” he said.