WV Business Roundtable Hosts State's Business Leaders at Spring Meeting

May 14, 2025

More than 75 of the top business leaders in West Virginia participated in the West Virginia Business Roundtable's Spring Meeting at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport.

One of the first questions at Monday’s roundtable was about the effect of the ever-changing tariff war, which the president and CEO of the Federal Bank of Richmond, Tom Barkin, discussed.

“I’ve been using the phrase ‘it’s like driving through fog.’ You don’t want to put your foot on the accelerator because you don’t know if you’re going to go off the cliff, you don’t want to put your foot on the brake because you don’t know who’s going to run into you, and there’s only one rational strategy, which is pull over and put on the hazards, and that’s what’s happening to businesses,”  Barkin said at the beginning of the roundtable.

Organizers said the goal of the meeting is to create opportunities for growth and wealth for all West Virginians. Also in attendance Monday were the presidents of local universities, including West Virginia University’s president-elect, Michael Benson.

”Incredibly important for the university to work hand-in-glove with business throughout the state, and it’s a great place and people are moving here and discovering the beauty of West Virginia and all it has to offer, and the university, of course, produces a lot of graduates, and we’re here to help, and I can’t wait to get started,” Benson said.