[February 2009]

More than 125 eager applicants for mining jobs crowded into the Bell County JobSight job fair for Bell County Coal, held Jan. 21 at Southeast Community and Technical College in Middlesboro.

Bell County Coal officials said they were pleasantly surprised at the unexpectedly large turnout as well as the quality of the candidates applying for inexperienced and experienced mining positions.

“It’s a greater success than we ever dreamed of,” said Lonnie Wilder, human resource and safety manager for Bell County Coal. “A lot of good people came through. I know there will be several well-qualified applicants.”

Bell County Coal had a two-fold purpose in working with JobSight to hold the job fair, Wilder said. The company is seeking experienced miners and electricians to work at its three Bell County mines and its processing plant. It is also planning to work with JobSight, Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC) to start a program for on-the-job training for inexperienced miners.

EKCEP and community colleges often work together to find grant funding for and develop these programs for mines.

Commonly called a “green hat” program, this training helps those who hold inexperienced miner cards clear the biggest hurdle to becoming an underground miner: the requirement that they work 45 days underground to obtain their experienced miner card.

In Bell County Coal’s first “green hat” program, about seven miners will work those initial days under the direct sight and supervision of an experienced miner. The new miners will also take courses to familiarize themselves with general mine techniques and safety procedures and also with specific information about the Bell County Coal mine they would be working in, such as escape routes and shelters.

“We hope to have better trained and prepared miners through this program,” Wilder said.

Many of the applicants who attended the job fair have inexperienced miner cards and hope to earn their experienced miner cards and become underground miners. Others came because they felt that coal mining is a more stable occupation than manufacturing in the current economy.

“I’m hoping and praying to get a job,” said Michael Murphy of Manchester, who is currently unemployed. “It’s hard to find a job anywhere now.”

Aaron Ramsey of Miracle said he has two brothers who work at Bell County Coal and love it there. Because layoffs are looming at his current job manufacturing auto parts in Tazewell, Tenn., he decided to try to make the move into mining to get better pay and more stability, he said.

Richard Bigsby and Jordan Shoffner of New Tazewell, Tenn. have both been laid off from jobs making trailers at Homesteader, Inc. They said that the job fair provided an opening they could not pass up.

“It’s a good opportunity,” Bigsby said. “Something you can make a career out of.”

The turnout at the fair was nearly twice what was expected, according to Craig Brock, business services manager at the Bell County JobSight.

“I think that is an indication of the tough times we are facing economically,” he said.

Brock said JobSight is very happy to help Bell County Coal add people to its workforce and more than willing to help it meet its needs in the future.

JobSight business services are delivered in Bell County by the Bell-Whitley Community Action Agency under contract with EKCEP. EKCEP administers the JobSight workforce network in the 23 eastern Kentucky counties that comprise the region’s coalfields.

Bell County Coal should be praised for its willingness to start a green hat program, Brock said.

“I think that Lonnie Wilder and the folks at Bell County Coal are taking extra steps to make sure that they have a qualified workforce,” he said. “They’re doing things the right way. Training up front will pay off in improved quality and production down the line.”

Brock also thanked Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College for allowing JobSight to use its facilities to host the job fair

EKCEP’s Business Solutions Manager Crawford Blakeman said EKCEP is committed to assisting the coal industry wherever it can by continuing to help fund training programs, making its Success Xpress mobile classroom available for miner training, and providing other services as needed.

“How can we not help the coal industry?” Blakeman said. “It’s critical to our regional economy and critical to the nation’s economy.”

For more information on Business Solutions services available to employers in Bell County, contact Craig Brock at 606-337-3044.