NFIB

John R. Hodges has been the NFIB/West Virginia state director for more than 20 years.

"The greatest victory NFIB/West Virginia has experienced was when we took the lead in the repeal of the State Business and Occupation Tax and the State Inheritance Tax," Hodges said. "We were also instrumental in the pro-business reforms made to the Workers' Compensation Program in 1995."

Hodges graduated from Marshall University, in Huntington, W.Va., in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He spent 10 years in sales with Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, Inc. and M&M/Mars. A lifelong resident of West Virginia, he has worked in government relations for 22 years.

Hodges has served as governor's co-chair of the White House Conference on Small Business, director of the West Virginia Small Business Development Center's Advisory Board and director on the Small Business Administration's Advisory Board. In addition he owns his own small business.

"NFIB is the only voice for small business in West Virginia," he said. "If not for NFIB, our small business owners would not be heard in Charleston."