Ohio University is getting 2 million dollars from a 39 million dollar federal grant program designed to help bring jobs to Appalachian areas hurt by the declining coal industry. Jim Letizia reports.
The six-year program will offer job training to displaced coal workers in 28 counties in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, and try to attract new businesses to the region. The grant will allow for the expansion of Ohio University's Innovation Center, which works on economic development projects. The center and the Muskingum County Business Incubator in Zanesville plan to attract 125 businesses and more than 11 hundred jobs. The grant will also support five offices helping low-income or unemployed people in Athens, Nelsonville, Portsmouth, Somerset and South Point. The coal industry has been in decline for years thanks to lower natural gas prices and tougher emissions regulations, among other issues. Demand for coal has decreased as power plants convert to less expensive and cleaner fuel. The decline in coal sales has hurt rail and barge shipments, which affects other regional workers.