West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office

The WV Secretary of State’s Office is responsible for maintaining an updated registration of every business entity operating within the State of West Virginia. The Secretary of State operates the WV One Stop Business Center.

About

The WV Secretary of State is the chief business registration office for the state.

Currently, there are more than 117,000 active business entities in good standing operating within the state.

Every entity conducting business anywhere in the State of West Virginia is required to register annually with the WV Secretary of State’s Office.

In 2018, the WV Secretary of State opened the first five-agency single-location business and licensing center in the United States. The WV One Stop Business Center has streamlined the business registration process with representatives from the WVSOS Business & Licensing Division; the WV State Tax Department; the WV Department of Labor; Workforce-WV; and the WV Small Business Development Center all under one roof.

The WV One Stop Business Center is a stand alone building off the state capitol complex.  There is plenty of free parking near the building.  In addition, The WV One Stop operates two regional offices – one in Clarksburg and one in Martinsburg.

With the passage of legislation in 2019, the Secretary of State’s Office can now charge reasonable expedited service fees to register a new business or update a business’ current registration.  In addition, the WV Legislature has approved funding to allow the Secretary of State to implement state of the art technology and equipment used in the registration and licensing process. What used to take up to ten days to open a new business in West Virginia can now take less than two hours.

The Secretary of State manages the Young Entrepreneur Fee Waiver Program and the Boots to Business Program to waive registration fees for veterans and their spouses.

Trademark registration is also offered by the WV Secretary of State.

 

 

 

Services Provided

Business Planning

  • Forming a Business (Specialty)

Legal Services

  • Forming a Business
  • Patent, Trademark & Copyright Information

Libraries and Research

  • Business Research Resources
  • Company Data/Prospect Lists

Marketing and Sales

  • Award Recognition

Regulatory Compliance

  • Government Requirements
  • Registration, Licenses and Permits (Specialty)
  • Trademark and Copyright Information (Specialty)

Starting a Business

  • Forming a Business
  • Registration, Licenses and Permits
Contact Information
Michael Queen
Address
157-K State Capitol
1600 Kanawha Blvd. East
Charleston, WV 25305