JOBS in the Coalfields, the Right Way

"You live where?" Sadly, having returned to my home state of West Virginia and settled in Mingo County, that incredulous response is what I hear most often from people when I tell them of my current whereabouts.

I can understand where they’re coming from. Growing up in West Virginia, I never thought much about where I would live as an adult.

Upon reaching adulthood, the relative lack of options here, compared to those available out of state, made my path clear. So like every single one of my childhood friends, I moved out of West Virginia to pursue opportunities that did not exist here in our mountains.

With my fancy job in a big city, I soon realized I wasn’t really giving anything back. I went to the mountains of Georgia to teach school. But, the mountains of Georgia were not my mountains, not our mountains. So, I returned to West Virginia, with more questions than answers.

One burning question: What can we do to make West Virginia a livable state for all generations? I believe sustainable development is the answer to that question.

I was sold when I first learned of the JOBS Project (Just and Open Businesses that are Sustainable), for which I currently work full time in Mingo County.

We’re learning that starting renewable energy is not as simple as throwing up a few wind turbines and plugging them in.

Electricity generation is a long-term process. We’ve crafted a comprehensive and viable plan for renewable energy production, one that emphasizes above all else community planning, involvement and ownership of the projects.

Studies already show that existing community owned operations create more local jobs and keep a far higher percentage of revenue in the locality, rather than in the standard corporate model seen with coal and large wind.

We’re working with a renewable energy firm based right in Huntington called FRIEnergy. We’ve also teamed up with the Marshall and West Virginia Universities to continue to asses potential wind power sites.

We’ve forged relationships with the White House’s Council for Environmental Quality in Washington, DC, and with Windustry in Minnesota, along with others.

We recognize that even with these auspicious alliances it will still take awhile to get the operations up and running, but as a wise friend said, "You’ve got to start at the beginning."

So yes, I am a prodigal son of West Virginia, but I genuinely hope and believe, that by coming back, I will play a small part in inspiring others to return and to stay. I believe that the best way to honor the mountaineer nobility of West Virginia is to protect and further develop its economic viability, not just for the realities of today, but also for a limitless future in the mountains.