A Charleston Daily Mail article today highlighted the fact that West Virginia has never been above 44th in the nation when it comes to the income of the average citizen. For the last 25 years, West Virginia has ranked 48th or 49th in per capita income.

Why can’t West Virginia’s economy break through? The article provides comments from various academic and government leaders, such as this quote from Cal Kent of Marshall University:

“We’re in a vicious cycle.” Kent says the state is in a precarious situation: many members of its labor force lack education beyond high school.

Kent said there’s a strong correlation between per capita income and the level of education in a workforce… “The real secret in getting per capita income up is improving the quality of the labor force that’s there,” Kent said.

Industrial and mining jobs are declining, Kent said. That means fewer good-paying jobs for people without higher education.

The article goes on to highlight the “Bucks for Brains” initiative, with positive comments on that from Senator Brooks McCabe: “We need to fund that another $50 million,” McCabe said. “And another $25 million two years from now.”

The formula for getting out of our hole is fairly well known by now. The question is, will we collectively – through our elected representatives – and through our individual efforts, make the difficult choices and take some risks to break through towards prosperity, both economically and socially?