West Virginia is portrayed is a safe port in the "perfect storm of financial crises" gripping the rest of the nation, in a 31-page business outlook section in the November issue of US Airways Magazine.

Gov. Joe Manchin unveiled the issue Wednesday with representatives of Pace Communications, publisher of the in-flight magazine.

"We're selling the state differently than ever before," Manchin said of the issue, which promotes West Virginia as a "bedrock of economic health" amid neighboring states that have been hit by economic downturns.

"This little state is sitting here, and we're not only not cutting any services people are dependent on, we're not raising any taxes," said Manchin, drawing a distinction between us and neighboring states.

Carsten Morgan, regional sales director for Pace, said the magazine's editors consider nearly 100 communities each year for coverage in the monthly economic outlook section. He said they selected West Virginia to contrast the state's recent economic successes with its longstanding stereotypes.

"You have an unbelievable amount of negative misperceptions," he said. "That's something we wanted to go out of our way to tell our passengers."

Articles in the section highlight tax and workers' compensation reforms, economic development initiatives, as well as higher education and health care in the state.

The section includes full-page ads for the state Development Office and the state Division of Tourism, BrickStreet Insurance, Charleston Area Medical Center, Northwood Health Systems, the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, West Virginia University, the School of Osteopathic Medicine, and Davis & Elkins and Bethany colleges, as well as nine smaller ads.

However, Commerce Secretary Kelley Goes said it would be incorrect to characterize the section as an advertising supplement.

"There's no quid pro quo at all. We weren't required to buy ads," she said.

She said the department opted to place three ads, one for the development office, one for tourism, and one for the state's "Come Home to West Virginia" campaign, seeing the magazine as an ideal use of its advertising budget.

US Airways averages 6.8 million passengers a month, and nearly half of all passengers read the in-flight magazine, according to publisher Andrea Alexander.

"They are CEOs - people who run corporations," she said of the magazine's readership.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.

West Virginia is portrayed is a safe port in the "perfect storm of financial crises" gripping the rest of the nation, in a 31-page business outlook section in the November issue of US Airways Magazine.

Gov. Joe Manchin unveiled the issue Wednesday with representatives of Pace Communications, publisher of the in-flight magazine.

"We're selling the state differently than ever before," Manchin said of the issue, which promotes West Virginia as a "bedrock of economic health" amid neighboring states that have been hit by economic downturns.

"This little state is sitting here, and we're not only not cutting any services people are dependent on, we're not raising any taxes," said Manchin, drawing a distinction between us and neighboring states.

Carsten Morgan, regional sales director for Pace, said the magazine's editors consider nearly 100 communities each year for coverage in the monthly economic outlook section. He said they selected West Virginia to contrast the state's recent economic successes with its longstanding stereotypes.

"You have an unbelievable amount of negative misperceptions," he said. "That's something we wanted to go out of our way to tell our passengers."

Articles in the section highlight tax and workers' compensation reforms, economic development initiatives, as well as higher education and health care in the state.

The section includes full-page ads for the state Development Office and the state Division of Tourism, BrickStreet Insurance, Charleston Area Medical Center, Northwood Health Systems, the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, West Virginia University, the School of Osteopathic Medicine, and Davis & Elkins and Bethany colleges, as well as nine smaller ads.

However, Commerce Secretary Kelley Goes said it would be incorrect to characterize the section as an advertising supplement.

"There's no quid pro quo at all. We weren't required to buy ads," she said.

She said the department opted to place three ads, one for the development office, one for tourism, and one for the state's "Come Home to West Virginia" campaign, seeing the magazine as an ideal use of its advertising budget.

US Airways averages 6.8 million passengers a month, and nearly half of all passengers read the in-flight magazine, according to publisher Andrea Alexander.

"They are CEOs - people who run corporations," she said of the magazine's readership.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.