WAL-MART STATE'S LARGEST EMPLOYER - Hospitals Next In Line

(09/05/2003)
Wal-Mart, which operates mostly on part-time help and pays slightly above minimum wage, is West Virginia's largest private-sector employer.

The company says it has 10,700 workers at 31 Wal-Mart and Sam's discount stores in the state.

Bureau of Employment Programs, Wal-Mart is among 43,741 private employers in West Virginia this year, according to the Bureau of Employment Programs.

West Virginia University Hospital/United Health System, which includes four hospitals, ranks second on the Top 100 list.

Seven other hospitals and health-related businesses were among the top 20 employers. Charleston Area Medical Center and Huntington's St. Mary's Hospital are third and tenth.

Hospitals do not provide public information regarding their number of employees, although some choose to do so.

Retailers Kroger and K-Mart are also in the top 20.

Weirton Steel is the state's fifth largest employer and railroad company CSX is sixth.

DuPont, which operates chemical plants in Kanawha and Wood counties, is seventh.

Utilities Verizon, Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power are eighth, ninth and eleventh.