Residents in several West Virginia counties hurt by the declining coal industry will soon have the option to receive training in cybersecurity work.
Glenville State College this week received more than $1.4 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to develop a Cybersecurity and Safety Workforce Development Initiative.
Communities in fifteen West Virginia counties, where coal jobs have dwindled in recent years, will benefit from the program. Those counties include Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Harrison, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler, Upshur, Webster and Wirt.
According to a news release, the initiative is designed to cultivate economic diversity, enhance reemployment opportunities for former miners and their families, and fill jobs in cybersecurity, which is a high paying and high-demand field.
The program will train about 300 West Virginians. The state has 1,000 open cybersecurity jobs, according to the release.
The Cybersecurity and Safety Workforce Development Initiative is part of ARC’s larger Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative.
“The downturn of the coal industry has impacted economies across Appalachia. That’s why ARC’s POWER initiative helps to leverage regional partnerships and collaborations to support efforts to create a more vibrant economic future for coal-impacted communities,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “Many of the projects … will invest in educating and training the Appalachian workforce, nurturing entrepreneurship, and supporting infrastructure—including broadband access.”
POWER targets federal resources to communities affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations and coal-related supply chain industries.
Additional support for the initiative is provided by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is looking for input from citizens as it seeks to create a strategic plan for economic development across 13 states over the next four years.
The (ARC) hopes residents will share thoughts about critical opportunities and challenges facing Appalchia’s economic future.
The conversations will happen virtually in a series of public input sessions.
According to a release from the ARC, the organization will develop a strategic plan informed by these meetings along with guidance from regional, state, and local partners, The plan is expected to be implemented from 2022-2026. The sessions are free but those who wish to participate must pre-register.
Here’s a list of the dates and times for the meetings:
Monday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, April 14 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Saturday, April 17 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Tuesday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, April 22 at 12:00 p.m. ET
Those who cannot attend can complete an online survey, which is open until April 30.
On March 9, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill creating the Appalachian Regional Commission, known as the ARC. The agency’s goal was to bring impoverished areas of Appalachia into the mainstream American economy. While the ARC serves parts of 13 states, West Virginia is the only one that lies entirely within the boundaries of Appalachia.
ARC programs fall into two main categories. An area development program provides funding to generate jobs and economic growth. Most West Virginians, though, are more familiar with the second category. The ARC’s Appalachian Development Highway System has built a network of roads to connect isolated areas that were bypassed by the interstate highway system. It originally featured 23 corridors, identified alphabetically. West Virginia’s road system includes Corridors D, E, G, H, L, and Q. The Corridor L project also produced the spectacular New River Gorge Bridge on U.S. 19 in Fayette County.
In addition, the ARC is linked to West Virginia through two longtime U.S. senators. Jennings Randolph helped created the commission, and Robert C. Byrd repeatedly found money to save the ARC when critics tried to defund it.
Mayors from eight cities in the Ohio Valley, including Pittsburgh, Morgantown, Huntington and Louisville, have joined forces to call for a new effort to revitalize the region.
In an essay in the Opinion section of the Washington Post, the group called for a 21st Century version of the World War II-era Marshall Plan, the U.S. aid program that helped rebuild Europe after the war.
Now the mayors want to see that type of investment in the Ohio Valley. They are requesting the equivalent of $60 billion a year, over 10 years, in private and public investment, and tax breaks.
Mayor Steve Williams, from Huntington, West Virginia, was one of the signers of the Washington Post essay. He spoke with Eric Douglas to discuss the group’s ideas.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: The analogy that’s used in the essay is the Marshall Plan, the post-World War II reconstruction plan for Europe. Why do you feel that’s an appropriate analogy to what we’re facing in, in the Ohio Valley?
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Steve Williams, mayor of Huntington, West Virginia.
Williams: I believe, particularly in the Ohio River Valley, and Appalachia, we are the forgotten part of the country. Everybody seems to talk about the Northeast and the South and the Midwest, and the West. But when you look at the Ohio River Valley, the mountainous area that we’re in, including the Great Lakes area, there are a lot of folks that come in wanting us to help them but when we absolutely need the help, all of the sudden we’re forgotten. And that’s why I believe that we’re the forgotten America.
Douglas: I see the point made that Appalachia powered the Industrial Revolution, powered the great build up of the nation.
Williams: None of us here will ever allow ourselves to be seen as a victim. Ever. That’s within our culture. You look at what has happened here. There are some things that we have within our DNA that we need to take full advantage of. And we believe that we need to have a federal partner in order to be able to accomplish these things.
Douglas: You mentioned the Appalachian Regional Regional Commission. Are you thinking this would be a program under the ARC?
Williams: It could be part of the ARC. None of us are coming in saying that we have to build a new federal agency. I believe that the ARC would be perfectly capable of doing this.
Douglas: You mentioned that this is not a Green New Deal. That’s not the direction you’re heading. But you made several points in the essay that you are looking for greener jobs.
Williams: It just makes sense. Much like when the automobile was coming into the Detroit area. What do you think happened to those horse and buggy manufacturers? Did they continue doing that? Were they a buggy manufacturer? Or were they a transportation company?
Are we oil and gas? Are we coal? Or are we energy? We’re starting to see these companies focusing on energy. And in that regard, we’re saying green energy. Let’s make sure that we’re doing things where the investments are being made.
Douglas: The estimate for this program is $60 billion a year over the next 10 years. So $600 billion in federal block grants, tax credits. It’s not just cash, obviously.
Williams: Theway that I look at it, that’s a small price to pay. A $600 billion investment will turn into a trillion dollars — trillions of dollars. I’m not looking at something that turns over five times, where then all sudden it is $3 trillion. I’m looking at thousands of times.
My background is finance. I used to be a stockbroker. I was an investment banker. If somebody is coming to me saying, “You place an investment here and you’d be able to get a tenfold return.” But the fact of the matter is, you recognize what the return on investment truly could be, we can’t afford not to do this.
The Appalachian Regional Commission has announced $3.75 million for banks and other lenders who have lost money during this global coronavirus pandemic.
Specifically, the grants are for lenders who work with small or local businesses and nonprofits in the ARC’s 13-state coverage area.
In a press release on Monday, the commission stated the grant will help approved lenders cover their own operational costs, as they continue to lose income from their local business borrowers, who due to the COVID-19 crisis need to reduce or suspend the regular loan payments.
The ARC anticipates the grant will serve 400 businesses and nonprofits in Appalachia, it said, and it could help retain 200 regional jobs.
Interested lenders have to be a member of Appalachian Community Capital to apply, or they have to have previously been funded by the ARC. The commission said the money will be awarded later this month.
On Monday, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice shared his recommendations for the next round of Appalachian Regional Commission projects in the state.
The ARC is a partnership between the federal government and the 13 Appalachian states. The agency awards federal dollars for infrastructure and economic development projects across the region.
Justice’s recommendations total $9.4 million for 13 projects throughout the state’s most “distressed communities,” as designated by the ARC.
McDowell County stands to gain the most from Justice’s recommendations. A statement from the governor’s office proposes giving groups in the county a total of $3 million that would fund water and sewage infrastructure projects, as well as other economic development and recovery initiatives.
That includes $1.8 million toward a public sewer system in Iager and $1 million for sewer upgrades in Bradshaw. The McDowell County Public Service District could receive an additional $160,000 to work on opening a sewer system.
The governor also recommends giving about $1.5 million each to the towns of Pine Grove in Wetzel County, Sand Fork in Gilmer County and Kenova in Wayne County, for sewer extensions and water line upgrades.
Justice asks that the ARC give Clay County $780,000 to replace its water tank, and that it give the Pocahontas County Public Service District $600,000 for a sewer extension.
These water projects tend to serve anywhere from 90 to 330 customers, according to the statement. Most of the projects also include one or two nonresidential customers (like a school, or a business).
Justice’s proposal also includes $76,000 to help the state’s simulated workplace program for West Virginia students, to give them professional workplace skills in the classroom.
Boone County might receive about $36,000 for a substance abuse fellowship project, to hire a fellow that can improve the area’s “Fresh Start” program, which gives education and training in agricultural skills to people recovering from substance abuse.
