A comprehensive research study conducted by the University of Tennessee and West Virginia University, and funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission, says that not only has the coal industry and its related industries suffered in coal’s extended downturn, but industries not related to coal, and even those outside of coal-producing areas, have also been put at risk.
And while the research and data is new, it’s nothing local economic development advocates haven’t known about the coal downturn for years.
A summary released by the University of Tennessee of the study, titled An Economic Analysis of the Appalachian Coal Industry Ecosystem, says the effects of coal’s downturn have reached far beyond the industry itself. The summary also quotes researchers as saying that a diversified economy is needed to combat those impacts.
SOAR executive Director Jared Arnett said the Appalachian Region, particularly Eastern Kentucky, is perennially lagging in having enough jobs for the workforce, even when the coal industry was strong. He said SOAR and similar organizations have been working for years to diversity the region’s economy, and have also been busy responding to the longterm downturn in coal.
Arnett said the UT-WVU study, the first comprehensive study of its kind, can lend additional data to the efforts of organizations like SOAR to help attract new industries. He said the UT-WVU study does not appear to shed any surprising new data on the state of the coal-producing regions, but it is good that there is comprehensive data supporting what many in the struggling coalfields already knew.
The UT-WVU study, funded by the ARC, can be found here, while the summary released by UT can be found here.
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