WHITE HALL — Economic diversification is a priority for West Virginia, according to Congressman David McKinley.

McKinley met with several business leaders in the high-technology sector Tuesday to discuss the state of West Virginia and Marion County. Among their discussion points was diversification of the economy and bringing high technology employees to West Virginia.

”That’s the thing that keeps me going throughout the day and at night, that West Virginia needs to diversify its economy.” said McKinley. “It’s done a pretty miserable job with that throughout the years.”

McKinley said that there was never a long-term plan to diversify the economy and that “we became complacent” with steady coal and natural gas industries.

”We had a natural product that people were using,” he said.    ”No one ever imagined how one president could set it back, and he did it so effectively.”

According to McKinley, the federal government “wants to take” new technologies from West Virginia.

”I have to spend a disproportionate amount of my time in our office, that is, making sure that it (high technology industries) stays here.”

To keep high technology industries in West Virginia, McKinley said that he’s working with leaders in the sector and the West Virginia High Technology Consortium.

One of the issues that was brought up in the meeting was access to money.

”The Dodd-Frank provisions have really crippled small businesses that gain access to money,” he said.

The Dodd-Frank Act is the largest financial reform since the Great Depression, passed by President Obama in 2010 after the financial crisis of 2008.

”The community banks are struggling to be able to loan money, and an example that was given that it costs them (small business owners) $80,000 because of compliance regulations to get a $2 million line of credit,” the congressman said. “That’s just not right. That’s just simply not right.”

Another topic of conversation was company taxation regarding benefits certain companies provide as an incentive to bring in highly qualified candidates.

”They (employers) offer some incredibly interesting benefits so that we get some of the best and greatest around the country to come here to West Virginia,” said McKinley. “But, by offering those Cadillac benefits, they’re going to be taxed for that.”

He said that one employer said it would cost more than $250,000 in tax penalties every year to provide the same benefits.

”’I’m either going to cut their benefits’, which you could imagine what could happen there, ‘or I have to add a cost of doing business at a quarter of a million dollars,’” McKinley said, loosely quoting the employer. “That’s not right.”

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