U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.8 million grant to the Coalfield Development Corporation of Wayne, W.Va., to rehabilitate the corporation’s West Edge Factory and accommodate workforce training and job placement programs. According to grantee estimates, after nine years, more than 320 program participants will either be employed by Coalfield or will have graduated and moved on to other employment opportunities.
“The Obama administration is committed to assisting coal-impacted communities diversify and grow and to ensure workers gain the skills they need to compete for in-demand jobs,” said Secretary Pritzker. “This EDA investment will spur economic diversification in Wayne, Mingo, and Lincoln counties. Each of these counties is looking to create new opportunities in the wake of changes within the coal industry.”
EDA’s investment will support the rehabilitation of an existing factory to facilitate diversified workforce training and to allow for existing programs to expand into larger spaces. Numerous public and private partners will be actively involved in the placement and hiring of program graduates.
This investment is being made under the Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) program, an integrated, multi-agency effort to invest federal economic and workforce development resources in communities and regions negatively impacted by changes in the coal industry.
