{"id":13220,"date":"2018-02-20T21:49:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T21:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=13220&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-05-21T19:05:22","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T19:05:22","slug":"life-after-coal","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/","title":{"rendered":"Life After Coal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring 2018 | By Laura J. Cole<\/em><\/p>\n

Deep in the heart of Appalachian coal country, nestled among the mountains, you\u2019ll find Pikeville, Kentucky. Population: 7,000. Located in the part of Kentucky that looks like it\u2019s driving a wedge between Virginia and West Virginia, Pikeville named itself \u201cThe City That Moves Mountains,\u201d because in the 1980s, the town completed one of the largest civil engineering projects in the Western Hemisphere by rerouting a river to stop it from flooding the town.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”13353″ title=”Loux-portrait” alt=”Portrait of Kevin Loux” position=”left” width=”118px”][\/photo] \u201cThese are very determined people,\u201d says resident Kevin Loux \u201910<\/strong>, \u201cpeople who work hard and are determined to get things done \u2014 like moving a river.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loux, who earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创<\/a>, cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.<\/p>\n

The people of Pike County, of which Pikeville is the center, produced 1.6 billion tons of coal between 1889 and 2015. Take into consideration that Kentucky, of which Pike County is but the smallest fraction, once produced more coal than any other state in the nation. And that coal was used to fuel cities across the Midwest such as Chicago, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Also take into consideration that coal mining, especially underground coal mining, is one of the most dangerous and physically challenging jobs on the planet.<\/p>\n

Despite the danger, in the heyday of coal employment in the late 1940s, coal jobs employed 18 percent of Pike County\u2019s population. In 2017, that number was closer to 1 percent. That\u2019s a drastic change in employment and economic opportunities for a town that\u2019s nearly 90 minutes away from the nearest interstate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the Appalachian Regional Commission\u2019s map for all the Appalachian counties in the United States, eastern Kentucky\u2019s referred to as the red dot, and it has been that way since the 1960s,\u201d Loux says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most economically distressed regions in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n

[blockquote source=”” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””] \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most economically distressed regions in the country.\u201d[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n

As the director of strategic partnerships for Shaping Our Appalachian Region, a bipartisan initiative formed in 2013 to create jobs and spur innovation in the region, Loux is working to fix that.<\/p>\n

We asked him whether coal production and employment would ever recover and how eastern Kentucky can redefine itself for the modern era.<\/p>\n

[callout background=”#f2f2f2″ content_align=”left” affix=”false” css_class=””]<\/p>\n

Putting Coal Miners Back to Work<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cIf you look at the historical timeline of the coal industry, you\u2019ll see that peak production doesn\u2019t actually correlate with peak employment. The peak for coal production was much later \u2014 after they modernized the industry and had more technology\u00a0and more automation. Overall, employment in the coal industry has been declining since the \u201950s. This means that even if coal production spikes, it\u2019s not going to directly translate into a lot of jobs. Coal alone simply can\u2019t replace what we\u2019ve lost in terms of jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broadband For The People<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe are in the center of a \u2028region that doesn\u2019t have an\u2028 interstate. If you look at the development of the highway\u2028system in the \u201950s and the \u201960s,\u2028the highway infrastructure enabled all sorts of interstate commerce and economic activity, but we were left out. We were instead left with efforts like the war on poverty that failed to address the root cause of the problem. Broadband has the potential to do\u00a0for job creation in this century what highways and railways did for the last century. That\u2019s why we\u2019re taking such a fervent approach on broadband. If we don\u2019t do this, we\u2019ll be in the same situation 60 years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Focus on Public Health<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cIn addition to high-levels of unemployment, Appalachian Kentucky is also one of the poorest health regions in the nation. We have a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control, and they have placed two officials in our office, working specifically on obesity, diabetes and substance abuse. This partnership is what enabled us to host the first health Hackathon in the region, provide treatment and employment opportunities for recovering addicts, and host numerous events to engage stakeholders in creative problem- solving efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education Tailored For Career Paths<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked with our local workforce innovation board and others in the region to tailor education so that it directly leads to a career. By working with private companies and educators, we trained students for specific jobs. One of the respondents of our workforce study said, \u2018If there\u2019s a job at the end of the tunnel, there isn\u2019t much I wouldn\u2019t go through to get it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

[\/callout]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13323,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[248,324],"class_list":["post-13220","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alumni","tag-college-of-business","issues-spring-2018"],"yoast_head":"\nLife After Coal | 麻豆原创's Pegasus Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kevin Loux, a 麻豆原创 alum, is helping eastern Kentucky redefine itself, rebuild the economy & find jobs beyond the coal industry. Loux earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创 & cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life After Coal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kevin Loux, a 麻豆原创 alum, is helping eastern Kentucky redefine itself, rebuild the economy & find jobs beyond the coal industry. Loux earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创 & cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/麻豆原创\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-21T19:05:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/02\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@麻豆原创\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/\",\"name\":\"Life After Coal | 麻豆原创's Pegasus Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/4\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-20T21:49:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-21T19:05:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"Kevin Loux, a 麻豆原创 alum, is helping eastern Kentucky redefine itself, rebuild the economy & find jobs beyond the coal industry. Loux earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创 & cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/4\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/4\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg\",\"width\":220,\"height\":230,\"caption\":\"life after coal. a man exits a coal mine\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Life After Coal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pegasus Magazine\",\"description\":\"The Magazine of 麻豆原创\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/life-after-coal\\\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"麻豆原创\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life After Coal | 麻豆原创's Pegasus Magazine","description":"Kevin Loux, a 麻豆原创 alum, is helping eastern Kentucky redefine itself, rebuild the economy & find jobs beyond the coal industry. Loux earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创 & cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Life After Coal","og_description":"Kevin Loux, a 麻豆原创 alum, is helping eastern Kentucky redefine itself, rebuild the economy & find jobs beyond the coal industry. Loux earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创 & cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/","og_site_name":"Pegasus Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/麻豆原创","article_modified_time":"2020-05-21T19:05:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":220,"height":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/02\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@麻豆原创","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/","name":"Life After Coal | 麻豆原创's Pegasus Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/02\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-20T21:49:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-21T19:05:22+00:00","description":"Kevin Loux, a 麻豆原创 alum, is helping eastern Kentucky redefine itself, rebuild the economy & find jobs beyond the coal industry. Loux earned an economics degree from 麻豆原创 & cites this as an example of the character of the people who live here. These are the people who produced more coal than any other county in Kentucky.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/02\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/02\/PegasusHomepage_SquareThumb_220x230-sp18-LifeAfterCoal.jpg","width":220,"height":230,"caption":"life after coal. a man exits a coal mine"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Life After Coal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/","name":"Pegasus Magazine","description":"The Magazine of 麻豆原创","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/life-after-coal\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"麻豆原创"}]}},"acf":[],"story_subtitle":"A 麻豆原创 alum is helping eastern Kentucky find the light at the end of the tunnel.","story_description":"A 麻豆原创 alum is helping eastern Kentucky find the light at the end of the tunnel.","story_thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2018\/02\/PegasusHomepage_StoryThumb_Small_263x175-LifeAfterCoal.jpg","width":263,"height":175},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19521,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13220\/revisions\/19521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}