CHARLESTON, W.Va. — First, the good economic news — West Virginia’s jobless rate stands at 4.2 percent, lowest in history.

Now the bad — it’s getting harder to find coal miners to fill industry jobs.

Within a few years, Commerce Secretary Thomas Bulla said Monday, coal operators will need between 2,000 and 3,000 new workers, and already, some well-paying jobs are going begging.

An electrician, for example, can earn up to $100,000 a year in an underground mine.

“We do not have the work force for that,” Bulla told members of the Joint Commission on Economic Development.

“It’s a good problem that we have the lowest unemployment rate. We have been on the other end for so many years.”

New miners must undergo a six-month training period, and one panelist, Delegate Steve Kominar, D-Mingo, wondered if this could be abbreviated to keep the work force supplied, noting that Kentucky prepares its coal workers in 45 days.

Kominar said the manpower dilemma has been known for some time, “and yet every little is done about it.”

Bulla alluded to a proposal for bringing in shuttle cars and other devices, donated by industry, to simulate actual mining conditions.

Delegate Eustace Frederick, D-Mercer, a veteran mining engineer, wondered if the state could provide mobile training sessions.

The industry has changed dramatically since the late 1970s, lawmakers were told. For instance, an overall workforce of 65,000 generated 85 million tons in 1978, but a year ago, the output of 160 million tons came from 45,000 employees.

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On another matter, Bulla predicted the state would land a coal conversion plant, telling lawmakers the administration has “two real projects on the table.”

“This is an East Coast competition,” he said.

“Yes, I think we’re got some real opportunities. We will get a liquefication plant.”

Bulla pointed to a number of other economic advances, including a $350 million cement plant in Martinsburg.

“We’ve got little victories all over the state,” the co-chair, Delegate Sam Cann, D-Harrison, said.

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On another issue, lawmakers were told the administration should know by July 1 how much money is being returned to the Economic Development Grant Committee, one that doled out funds two years to projects across the state.

Some projects simply never got off the launching pad.

Deputy Secretary Brian Helmick said the amount of cash to be returned to the committee could range from $5 million to $25 million.

“That’s a tough call today,” he said, when asked to narrow the money to a specific amount.

“It’s a wide range. We simply don’t have at this time.”

But any unused funding cannot be diverted to projects approved but not given money two years ago without approval of the Legislature, Helmick emphasized.





Mannix Porterfield writes for The Register-Herald in Beckley, W.Va.