By Amy Arnett
West Virginians have a reputation for being a hard-working population, but where do they work? At West Virginia Executive, we are always interested in learning more about business demographics in the state, and WorkForce West Virginia enables that curiosity by collecting data on our largest employers, including the largest employers per county.
We have put together a map that shows the largest private employer in each of our 55 counties. Our listing excludes state-run organizations like boards of education, which are the largest employers in 29 counties. We hope this map will provide an inside look at what is driving the counties’ business environments here in the Mountain State.
Barbour
Wolf Run Mining Company/Arch Coal, Inc.
Berkeley
Berkeley Medical Center
Boone
Elk Run Coal Company, Inc./Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
Braxton
Central West Virginia Aging Service, Inc.
Brooke
Weirton Medical Center
Cabell
St. Mary’s Medical Center, Inc.
Calhoun
Minnie Hamilton Health System
Clay
Clay County Development Corporation
Doddridge
Blue Flame Pipeline, LLC
Fayette
Kingston Mining, Inc./Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
Gilmer
Glenville State College
Grant
Grant Memorial Hospital
Greenbrier
Greenbrier Hotel Corporation
Hampshire
Hampshire Memorial Hospital/Valley Health System, Inc.
Hancock
Mountaineer Park, Inc.
Hardy
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation of West Virginia
Harrison
United Hospital Center, Inc.
Jackson
Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood
Jefferson
PNGI Charles Town Gaming
Kanawha
Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc.
Lewis
Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital
Lincoln
Lincoln County Opportunity Company
Logan
Logan General Hospital
Marion
Fairmont State University
Marshall
The Marshall County Coal Company/Murray Energy Corporation
Mason
Pleasant Valley Hospital, Inc.
McDowell
XMV, Inc./ArcelorMittal
Mercer
Princeton Community Hospital Association
Mineral
Alliant Techsystems, Inc.
Mingo
Mingo Logan Coal Company/Arch Coal, Inc.
Monongalia
West Virginia University Hospitals
Monroe
UTC Aerospace Systems
Morgan
War Memorial Hospital/Valley Health System, Inc.
Nicholas
Summersville Regional Medical Center
Ohio
Wheeling Hospital, Inc.
Pendleton
Pendleton Manor, Inc.
Pleasants
First Energy Generation Corporation
Pocahontas
Snowshoe Mountain, Inc.
Preston
Preston Memorial Hospital
Putnam
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc.
Raleigh
Raleigh General Hospital
Randolph
Davis Medical Center
Ritchie
Simonton Building Products, Inc.
Roane
Roane General Hospital
Summers
Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Taylor
ICG Tygart Valley, LLC/Arch Coal, Inc.
Tucker
Canaan Valley Resort
Tyler
Momentive Performance Materials USA
Upshur
St. Joseph’s Hospital of Buckhannon
Wayne
Rockspring Development, Inc./Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
Webster
Brooks Run Mining Company, LLC/Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
Wetzel
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wirt
Maze Enterprises, Inc.
Wood
Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital
Wyoming
Pinnacle Mining Company, LLC/Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.
Source: WorkForce West Virginia
19 Comments
Walmart employs more people in Wetzel County that Wetzel County Schools System? That’s hard to believe.
The article states private employers and specifically states that public institutions such as school systems are excluded
It’s really sad that most of the jobs in our state are from the medical profession. We need a lot more manufacturing jobs and jobs that can make a good living wage for families.
Is it just a coincidence that coal company’s and hospitals dominate this list?
Lincoln County’s largest employeer is Lincoln County Board of Education. I don’t see any BOE’s listed. Did this disclude all BOE’s?
The article specifically states that public institutions such as boards of education are excluded.
I think the leader in Marshall county is Williams Partners now, the gas plants and all the wells have most leaving the mining industry and going to work in the gas industry
Glenville State College is a public institution of higher education and as such is not a private employer.
I would have to agree Kristi. GSC is state run and shouldn’t be included.
The US postal service is larger than camc. And no it’s not Goverment has not been since the 70’s
CAMC employs more than 7,000 people in the Kanawha Valley, that’s more than the postal service.
I would have to say that Waco would probably have more employees than Glenville State College in Gilmer county?
It seems most counties are either medical or mining ! Sad to say 🙁
Hi, all. This is Jenn with WVE. If you look at the intro for this piece, it says (second paragraph) “Our listing excludes state-run organizations like boards of education, which are the largest employers in 29 counties.” This list of largest employers was provided to us by WorkForce West Virginia and, according to them, is the most recent information they have on the largest employers per county. If you have further questions about the list WorkForce West Virginia provided for this piece, you can contact them directly. Thanks!
I was going through the comments and getting frustrated that everyone was asking something answered in the article. Glad you cleared that up.
I thought the largest employer in Lewis County was the William R.Sharpe, Jr. Hospital? When did this change?
The purpose of journalism is to transfer knowledge. This chart and map falls quite short of that goal. List each county and the top 3 or 4 employers regardless of being public or private. That would be the rest of the story.
This information is available on Workforce West Virginia website.
Yes without all the information presented one gets a biased view. The question now is, who would benefit from this biased view? Big coal, that’s who. Now info is printed that shows coal to be the number one employer in several counties, and wouldn’t it be awful if it all went away? See how it would really damage all of these counties? Etc etc. yes it would be hard for those employed by coal companies to lose their jobs, as it would for ANYONE to lose their job, but to then provide information that might link that loss to the economic development of an entire county is just poor journalism.