CHARLESTON —  The state of West Virginia now has a total of 155,442 registered businesses that are active and registered in the Mountain State. According to WV Secretary of State Mac Warner, that’s the highest number of registered businesses ever recorded in West Virginia.

Warner attributes the state’s businesses growth, in part, to the increased ease and convenience of opening a new business in West Virginia. Warner said that his office worked with the legislature to: (1) modernize the WVSOS Business & Licensing Division; (2) create the WV One Stop Business Center and online portal; and (3) establish regional offices in Clarksburg and Martinsburg. The process that used to routinely take more than two weeks to register and open a new business in West Virginia can now take less than two hours.

“West Virginians have long been innovators, and our office is innovating for them with enhanced customer tools that help to welcome new businesses and getting them properly registered,” Warner said. “We’ve moving at the speed of business in an effort to help entrepreneurs and business owners get open for business. Just last week, our office registered West Virginia’s first business onsite at an entrepreneurship conference and launched our AI-powered chat bot to help answer citizens’ business questions 24/7.”

National Small Business Week will be celebrated from April 30 to May 6.

Warner will be travelling throughout the state promoting the importance of small business development and making sure that state government does its part to compliment and not complicate the registration process. Secretary Warner will be in the eastern panhandle on Sunday and Monday (April 29-30), and then in north central West Virginia on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 2-3).

On Wednesday, Secretary Warner will be in Fairmont to join the West Virginia office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA-WV will be hosting a luncheon to celebrate National Small Business Week. The luncheon will be held at the WV High Technology Consortium in the Robert Mollohan Center.  

During the luncheon, Warner will help recognize the SBA’s 2023 following honorees and award winners:

Small Business Person of the Year: Anthony and Heather Wheeler, SignMonkey.com and Paris Inc. of Huntington

Small Business Exporter of the Year: Douglas Kreinik, Kreinik Manufacturing Co., Inc. of Parkersburg

Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year: Anne Perella, A & J Sewing Studio LLC. of Morgantown

Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year: Angie Cowger, Custard Stand Chili and The Custard Stand of Webster Springs

During the luncheon, Warner will also present a proclamation recognizing National Small Business Week in West Virginia.