WVSOS Anniversary Open House Celebrates National Entrepreneurship Week in West Virginia

Charleston, W.Va. – An anniversary open house for the WV One Stop Business Center was celebrated on Wednesday in Charleston as part of National Entrepreneurship Week. WV Secretary of State Kris Warner and his Business Division staff in Charleston hosted the open house to also celebrate the start of the eighth year of service by the WV One Stop Business Center.

The WV One Stop Business Center was opened in 2018 by the WV Secretary of State's Office with the support of the West Virginia Legislature. The Center ​was the very first four-agency, single-location business and licensing agency in the nation. It has become a model operation for other states.

The four original agencies in the Center included the Secretary of State's Office, the WV State Tax Department, the WV Division of Labor, and Workforce-West Virginia. The WV Small Business Development Center is also part of the Center, and according to Secretary Warner, the Center looks forward to a new partnership with the WV Grant Centers.

"The WV One Stop Business Center was a legislative initiative that has had a major impact on how we do business in West Virginia," said Secretary of State Kris Warner. "Our staff and all of the agencies involved are working together to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners. We want them to be successful."

The National Association of Secretaries of State recognized the Center for its innovation and mission to streamline the business registration process. What used to take up to two weeks to open or start a new business in West Virginia can now take less than two hours.

The WV One Stop Business Center is headquartered at 13 Kanawha Blvd. West in Charleston. The Center also operates two regional offices (referred to as Business Hubs) in Clarksburg and in Martinsburg.

Representatives from the West Virginia Legislature, the WV Department of Commerce, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and numerous members of the WV Entrepreneurship Ecosystem attended the anniversary open house on Wednesday.

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