CHARLESTON — West Virginia elected officials and the state’s economic development team celebrated a major investment Wednesday by South Korea-based electronics manufacturer LG, which wishes to bring its motto, “Life is good,” to the Mountain State.
LG CEO William Cho joined Gov. Jim Justice and state officials at the West Virginia Culture Center in Charleston Wednesday afternoon to announce a nearly $700 million investment by LG Electronics in the state for a new strategic initiative to spur technological advancements in the region.
“Really smart people that have chosen West Virginia. I’m telling you, we could not possibly be more appreciative,” Justice said of LG’s decision to come to the state, presenting Cho with an autographed photo of Justice with Babydog, his popular English bulldog.
“Many years ago, I learned how to speak English by singing to John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads,’” Cho said. “Now, I’m finally here with all leaders in West Virginia for this significant occasion.”
LG plans to launch its NOVA North American Innovation Center project in West Virginia, along with branch offices in Huntington and Morgantown, partnering with the state, Marshall University and West Virginia University.
“We’re celebrating an opportunity now to make certain that our young people stay here,” said WVU President E. Gordon Gee. “That many young people who come from various places around this country and around the world, that they’re able to stay here and be with us … Thanks to this announcement today, life is good, but West Virginia is better, because you’ve made it that way.”
“Their investment in our state — in dollars, intellectual capital and partnership — will promise to be game changing for our state,” said Marshall University President Brad Smith. “Marshall University, with our dear friends at West Virginia University and our peers across the state and all of higher ed in the two-year and four-year programs and all of the elected leaders, stand prepared to ensure that this initiative is successful, and West Virginia is successful.”
The goal of NOVA is to work with local companies, entrepreneurs and business start-ups to create technological advancements. LG launched its first NOVA Innovation Center in 2021, aimed at assisting entrepreneurs and new business start-ups be able to bring their ideas to fruition and scale up. The project is estimated to create 275 high-skilled jobs in West Virginia with its $700 million investment over the next five years.
“By working closely with the state leaders, we’ll be contributing to the economic growth of the state by creating many new jobs in digital health, sustainable energy and the other future industries,” Cho said. “Our new businesses will partner with the many state services and infrastructure, providing unprecedented experiences to those who are in need.”
“We know LG is a big company, but there are a lot of things that LG cannot do by itself. And also West Virginia is a great state, but obviously, there are a lot of areas where LG can make a difference,” said Sokwoo Rhe, a senior vice president of innovation at LG Electronics and head of LG NOVA. “So that’s why we started discussing about, ‘OK, how do we create these new ventures that we are developing as LG NOVA and work with West Virginia to make an impact and make a difference in West Virginia?’ And that’s why we are here.”
Wednesday’s announcement stemmed from a trip made in 2022 to California by state economic development officials, Marshall and WVU officials, state Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay. LG was one of the companies they met with. LG leaders also praised the work of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., to bring the project to the state.
“LG changes the lives of people every day, and you’re going to change the lives of West Virginians,” Manchin said. “And we’re going to help make sure that the partnership that we have is the greatest partnership you have anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world.”
“The exciting thing for me is that as we talk about transitions and how West Virginia has been in the past and wants to be in the future,” Capito said. “One of the things we know … is the key to our future is the development of great, innovative technologies. And that’s what LG represents to us and to the entire world. And that’s the exciting thing, I think, for us.”
West Virginia is providing state tax dollars towards the project. In a special meeting earlier Wednesday, the state Economic Development Authority approved up to $54 million in forgivable loans for LG through the High Impact Development Project program. Senate Bill 729, passed in 2022, allows the Economic Development Authority to use monies in the Economic Development Project Fund for projects with investments of more than $50 million and expected creation of at least 200 permanent jobs.
“LG could go anywhere,” Justice said after the unanimous EDA vote Wednesday. “They’ve got the money; they’ve got the intelligence. They could go anywhere on the globe and maybe places that aren’t on the globe. They picked West Virginia, and it’s because of a lot of hard work … If you don’t think this is a hell of an anchor tenant, you’re living in a cave.”
Word began to leak out Tuesday about the LG announcement, including an invitation sent out for Wednesday’s Culture Center announcement on behalf of Gee and Vantage Ventures, a project of WVU’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics. Speaking during his administration briefing Wednesday morning, Justice expressed displeasure at the various leaks to media outlets leading up to Wednesday’s LG announcement.
“There’s been some leaks on this that disappointed me, to tell you the truth, because we pledge our confidentiality,” Justice said. “We pledge our confidentiality in thanks to those who are going to come to West Virginia, give us opportunities, give us jobs and absolutely create a tax base that is significant.”