page_title: Economy of West Virginia
section_title: Research and development and advanced tech
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of West Virginia / Overview / Research and development and advanced tech
caption_attribution_description: English: The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, a 100 meter diameter radio telescope located in Green Bank, West Verginia, USA. It is the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world.
context_page_description: The economy of West Virginia nominally would be the 62nd largest economy globally behind Iraq and ahead of Croatia according to 2009 World Bank projections, and the 64th largest behind Iraq and ahead of Libya according to 2009 International Monetary Fund projections. The state has a projected nominal GDP of $63.34 billion in 2009 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis report of November 2010, and a real GDP of $55.04 billion. The real GDP growth of the state in 2009 of .7% was the 7th best in the country. West Virginia's economy accelerated in 2014 with a growth rate of 5.1%, ranking third among the fastest growing states in the United States alongside Wyoming and just behind North Dakota and Texas.
  Morgantown was ranked by Forbes as the 10th best small city in the nation to conduct business in 2010.
  The state is a global hub for chemicals, a national hub for biotech industries and a leader in energy, while having a diverse economy in aerospace, automotive, healthcare and education, metals and steels, media and telecommunications, manufacturing, hospitality, biometrics, forestry, and tourism.
context_section_description: Through 2008, 45,284 West Virginians were employed in advanced technology industries, which made up 5.6% of the economic establishments in the state. Through 2007, 91,998 citizens of the state aged 25–44 held bachelor's degrees or higher. West Virginia receives annually around $261 million in federal R&D funds, ranking 34th in the nation. Private establishments receiving the most federal R&D contracts in 2009 were Fairmont-based Prologic, Inc., Security Assistance Corporation, Ridgeley-based Alliant Techsystems, Inc., Berkeley Springs-based STS International, and the Fairmont-based West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation (HTC).
   
  The state is home to federal institutions such as the portions of the National Energy Technology Laboratory and Forestry Science Laboratory in Morgantown, the Leetown Science Center and National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture in Leetown, National
  Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, the Forest Service Timber and
  Watershed Laboratory in Parsons, the Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center in Beckley, West Virginia District Office of Water Resources in Charleston, and Department of Veterans Affairs R&D units in Clarksburg and Huntington.
  West Virginia University is home to research institutions such as the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, Robert C. Byrd Cancer Research Laboratory, Center for Identification Technology Research, and the National Research Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions.
  The Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center, or MATRIC, is headquartered in South Charleston.
  In December 2010, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission began a $23 million renovation of a research park formerly home to Dow Chemical.
caption: National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in Green Bank.
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