A West Virginia legislative leader has been actively seeking to attract businesses from Maryland to move to his state in response to the tax increases enacted by Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly.

Del. Gary Howell, a Mineral County Republican who is chairman of the West Virginia House Economic Development Committee, wrote in a letter to targeted Maryland technology companies, which Spotlight on Maryland reviewed on Tuesday, that his state’s defense and technology ecosystem is thriving in comparison to their home state.

“I recently read about the challenges (your company) is facing due to Maryland’s new 3% sales tax on information technology services,” Howell wrote. “Understanding the significant impact this may have on your operation, I would like to extend an invitation to consider Mineral County, West Virginia, as a strategic location for your company’s future growth and success.”

The company that provided Spotlight on Maryland with a copy of Howell’s letter requested not to be identified.

“We are open for business,” Howell said in an interview Tuesday afternoon with Spotlight on Maryland. “We are one of the top destinations now for business. We have made a lot of changes in the past roughly15 years to make us more business-friendly state.”

“We’d like to say we move at the speed of business,” Howell added.

While West Virginia continues to experience a population decline since its peak of 2 million residents in 1950, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that most of the recent losses are attributed to more people dying in the state than being born.

The same federal dataset showed that West Virginia has experienced a net positive increase in migration over the past three years.

Meanwhile, Maryland’s population data showed a slight increase in residents by the end of 2024, mainly driven by an influx of 53,100 international immigrants, leading to a net gain of 46,158 individuals. Census data revealed that 18,509 more people left Maryland than moved into the state, while there were 11,604 more births than deaths compared to 2023 figures.

“The interesting thing is (businesses that receive my letter) have been passing it around to businesses I didn’t send the letter to,” Howell said. “Several businesses reached out, said ‘Hey, we’ve heard about your letter. What places do you have? What can you offer?’”

Howell’s recruitment letter to Maryland technology businesses, which he said he started sending in early April, invited corporate executives to meet with West Virginia leaders to help with relocation efforts.

“West Virginia offers a pro-business climate with no digital services tax, allowing technology companies to operate without additional financial burdens,” Howell wrote. “(West Virginia also provides) stable and affordable energy costs, with Mineral County served by FirstEnergy, ensuring predictable utility expenses.”

Howell said West Virginia’s capacity to generate energy and provide ready access for businesses adds to its appeal.

“A lot of people think of us as a coal state, but the reality is we are now a bigger natural gas state than we are a coal state, but we do wind turbines, we do solar, we do hydro, we do it all,” Howell said. “We export 40% of the power that we generate.”

PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator for the Mid-Atlantic states including West Virginia and Maryland, has repeatedly said that Maryland imports at least 40% of its energy from neighboring states.

“Our utility rates are cheaper, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we are an all-of-the-above state, so we can offer a lot of these companies that want to move here, especially data centers…we have four to them looking into the state right now,” Howell said.

Moore, a Democrat, recently took to social media to share multiple posts from individuals reportedly interested in relocating to Maryland. Dubbed “Moore Comments,” in a post on X from Sunday, the governor wrote, “Maryland’s becoming a more attractive place for people to move, but don’t just take my word for it…”

“I would love to move to Maryland. In the process of looking for a job and my residence,” said Aoah, an Instagram user. “I definitely love the leadership of this governor.”

A spokesperson for Moore did not respond directly to questions regarding the governor’s reaction to the letter.

“After years of economic stagnation, it was clear Maryland had much to accomplish to undo the economic underperformance seen from 2017 to 2022. During that time, Maryland’s economy flatlined while the rest of the country grew,” said Carter Elliott, the governor’s spokesperson. “In just two years, Maryland has added nearly 100,000 jobs, more jobs than the previous eight years.”

“The Moore-Miller administration has created over 25,000 new places of business and is creating about 30% more new establishments each month than in 2019, right before the pandemic. That’s stronger growth than the rest of the country for the same period,” Elliott added.

Monthly business formation statistics published by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that Maryland received 12.27% fewer new business applications from companies with planned wages when comparing the numbers from 2023 to 2024.

Business applications with planned wages increased by 13.94% in Delaware and by 2.26% in Washington, D.C., during the same period.

“I think (Gov. Moore) needs to look deep at what laws are passed out of the legislature and what he is signing,” Howell said. “When you look at it law-for-law, permit-for-permit, regulation-for-regulation, West Virginia hands down is beating them left and right.”

“High-taxed states, high-regulation states like Maryland are the reason why West Virginia is starting to grow again, and why people are moving across the border,” Howell added.

Spotlight on Maryland is a partnership between The Baltimore Sun and FOX45 News. Have a news tip? Contact Gary Collins at gmcollins@sbgtv.com.