State Bank of West Virginia

What We're Up Against

Instead of sending all our wealth away to millionaires and billionaires who couldn’t care less about us, with a State Bank of West Virginia, we will invest in ourselves: in small businesses, small farms, entrepreneurs, rural infrastructure, sustainable industries, young West Virginians, veterans, and more. We’ll finally invest in the long term good of our people.

Our Plan

This bank will be modeled in part after The Bank of North Dakota with the goals of:

  • Keeping tax dollars invested in our own state instead of enriching Wall Street and out-of-state corporations.
  • Funding rural infrastructure projects such as water, energy, and broadband.
  • Investing in innovative, small businesses that are the heart of regenerating our communities.
  • Providing loans for our small family farms to innovate and prosper.
  • Providing loans for safe, energy-efficient affordable housing and energy efficiency upgrades for our communities.
  • Initiating and refinancing student loans for the young people of our state by administering the Take Me Home plan.
  • Providing lines of credit as a rapid response to emergencies such as flooding.
  • Protecting the pensions of our state employees and our economy through sound investments here in West Virginia.
  • Promoting partnerships with critical, local community banks to help ensure their continued success.

 

  • Create a microbusiness recovery program specifically targeted to rural areas, and available to businesses that have fewer than five employees and less than $250,000 in annual gross revenue.
  • Create a Bank Advisory Board. Our State Bank’s business model will represent the interests of the people, and provide insulation from the whims of purchased politicians and the influences of large, out-of-state interests.

  • Require companies providing 401K options in West Virginia to include an option that invests in the state bank. Instead of paying dividends to Wall Street, we will be paying dividends to the State Bank’s only shareholder: our people.

No one politician or slate of candidates can win this plan alone. We need you.

If you have an idea for how to make this plan stronger, or if you would like to lend a hand to win it, contact our co-chair Stephen Smith at stephen@wvcantwait.com.

Fund the Movement

This movement runs on people power, without a dime of corporate cash. Make your donation today. Or better yet, join the ranks of our monthly donors by selecting the box during check out! 

Join the Movement

It will take 1,000 leaders not 1 to win a West Virginia that works for all of us. That means we need you!