Grading W.Va.'s Development Office

Legislative auditors say the Development Office and its divisions, including the one devoted to international trade, have no way to track their successes and failures, The Associated Press reports.

But the auditors tapped federal data to find the following:

* Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) dropped by 27 percent between 1990 and 2004, despite trade offices in Japan, Taiwan and Germany for most of that time;

* Exports increased 44 percent from 2000 to 2006, but exports per-capita continue to lag behind eight of nine states deemed regional competitors;

* Per-capita FDI is average when compared to these nine competing states.