Appalachian Regional Commission federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin Story Archives

A delegation from Glenville State University is among the 130 students from 10 colleges and universities gathered in Washington D.C. this weekend for an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) research symposium on economic development.

ARC Co-Chair Gayle Manchin said the gathering goes beyond stressing the importance of Appalachia’s academic institutions.

“It’s not just about a class project or about a grade but about the impact that that research can continue to do across the region,” Manchin said.

Ashley Nicholas is majoring in management at Glenville State. Her group’s affordable housing research found challenges in filling job openings in Gilmer and Calhoun Counties. Nicholas said they found faculty and staff vacancies at Glenville State and job openings at the Federal Corrections Institute and Hamilton Hospital related to a lack of working-class housing.

“There’s a lot of dilapidated housing, land hoarding issues that just need to be cleaned up,” Nicholas said. “So that we have the moderately priced income housing that these professionals need to come to the area.”

Other symposium issues under discussion deal with agriculture, tourism, health care and accessibility.

Manchin said finding answers to social problems gives these students a sharper focus on their future.

“Just the fact that they begin to sense that they have a place that they have a role to play in that community is very vital,” she said.

Glenville State’s delegation spoke with Sen. Joe Manchin about the jobs and housing problems. He said he would review their research and asked them to take things a step further.

“He recommended we create a community committee when we get back,” Nicholas said “So it’s not just Glenville State University’s project, it’s a community project.”

Nicholas says that the ‘town and gown’ committee will work with both county commissions to hopefully turn research into a positive reality.

The other student delegation’s participating in the ARC’s 23rd annual Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI) symposium include:

Alfred State College, Alfred, New York

Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina

Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama,

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee

Frostburg State University, Frostburg, Maryland

Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania

Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky

Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio,

Seton Hill University, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia

An ARC press release said that since 2001, nearly 3,000 college and graduate students from 31 colleges and universities across Appalachia have participated in the ACRI. The release said that many students have gone on to careers in economic and community development across the region, applying what they learned in ACRI to strengthen the region.

The Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Training & Education Center (formerly Robert C. Byrd Institute) opened to much fanfare Wednesday at the West Virginia Regional Technology Park.

The training center will supply a reliable pipeline of skilled workers to manufacturing employers around the state.

Appalachian Regional Commission federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin joined about 90 people for the ribbon cutting ceremony in South Charleston.

She said investing in workforce development in the Appalachian region will strengthen the state and country as a whole.

“It is about working together. It is about breaking down barriers between our communities, our states,” Manchin said. “If we lifted our boundaries between West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, we wouldn’t know where to put them back. If we grow West Virginia, if we grow the Appalachian region our country will be stronger. We will be stronger as America and at the end of the day I think that’s what we all really wish for.”

Manchin pointed out that training programs offered through the center serve as an integral part of lifting up communities left behind by the coal industry.

“It’s very important to understand we’re not talking about a thing, ” Manchin said. “We’re not talking about a program, or a machine. We’re talking about people. It’s meeting people where they are and giving them opportunities that they didn’t have before. It’s making sure there is transportation, that there’s childcare, that people don’t come hungry into these programs. By creating an ecosystem for training, that’s how we build hope.”

“Hope for those who never could aspire to a four year college program. Hope for those that couldn’t adapt their lives to a 9-5 schedule and hope for those really interested in the trade, really interested in knowing how to run those machines.”

West Virginia Regional Technology Park CEO & Executive Director Matt Ballard and Derek Scarbro, interim director for Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center were present for the event along with Joannie Harmon, workforce director with the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation in Tennessee (IACMI).

“This is a really amazing initiative and so much hard work has gone into this,” Harmon said. “I know, because we started this conversation about a year and a half ago. It was kind of scary, I’m not going to lie. There were a lot of cobwebs and we weren’t sure what this was going to look like but it was amazing.”

Harmon said IACMI is one of 17 identified manufacturing institutes in the U.S. The organization works with the Department of Defense (DoD) and federal government which she said has “huge investments” in institutes with a focus on particular technology.

IACMI comprises a partnership of industry, universities, laboratories, and federal, state and local governments that work together to benefit the nation’s energy and economic security.

“We have an issue that machine tool technology has really declined in our country,” Harmon explained. “We don’t have the capabilities and capacity that we used to have 20-30 years ago. How do we get that back?”

Harmon said the Department of Defense formed a partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in east Tennessee to create new technology around CNC machining to get more machinists with skills to work on big machine tools.

“This isn’t just another CNC training program, it’s a little different in that it is bringing in new technology,” Harmon explained. “What we are doing is working with our community colleges, technical colleges, high schools and universities like Marshall to get this new technology introduced into industry and into the workforce.”

IACMI introduced Marshall University to ACENet, a joint Department of Defense and Department of Energy (DOE) initiative launched in 2020. Its goal is to reestablish American leadership in the machine tool industry.

Marshall now delivers ACENet training to participants from Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.

CNC Master Machinist instructor Steve Nelson said the ability to manufacture precision parts and military components plays a role in national security.

“You see, on the other side of the room we have some CNC equipment that has some automatic functions and features,” Nelson said. “They are based on this equipment that has been made and used for over 100 years. Manufacturing, primarily CNC machining, welding and fabricating play a role in providing for DoD military equipment and items, it’s a vital component of our infrastructure.”

Carol Phillips, executive director of West Virginia Women Work said trainees from her program will work with Nelson to learn new manufacturing skills.

“Manufacturing in West Virginia is everywhere,” she said. “It’s a needed job in the state, it’s a high paying job in the state and that’s our goal – to get women into high paying careers.”

Currently, more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs are open in the Appalachian region.

Tag: Appalachian Regional Commission federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin

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