Projects aimed at boosting economy in E. KY to receive millions in federal aid
Officials announced a total of $14.2 million in federal grants Monday for six projects aimed at improving the economy of Eastern and Southern Kentucky, including areas hit hard by a loss of coal jobs.
The biggest grant, for $3.76 million, will go to BPM Lumber to buy equipment for its hardwood mill in Laurel County.
The award will allow BPM to expand operations, keep 123 jobs and re-hire 62 workers at facilities in London and Whitesburg who were laid off during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release.
“These grants are critical as we continue to rebuild and plan for a better future,” said U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican who represents the region.
Rogers announced the grants with Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, at a news conference in Frankfort.
Projects like those announced Monday “are going to play a crucial role in moving this state forward,” Beshear said.
The other awards were:
▪ $3.5 million for a new water plant at Buckhorn, in Perry County. The plant will help eliminate water outages that have plagued the area and also help serve a regional industrial park, said Hazard Mayor Donald “Happy” Mobelini.
▪ $3 million to the East Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute, also called eKAMI, for a program to train inmates at the state prison in Morgan County in robotics and automation.
▪ $2.05 million for a new water plant at Wheelwright, in Floyd County. It will replace a plant that dates from the time Wheelwright was a company coal town more than 80 years ago, said Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams.
▪ Projects in Harlan County will get two grants, one of $1.5 million to provide natural gas at the county’s industrial park in the Tri-Cities area of Cumberland, Benham and Lynch, and $400,000 to create a new welcome center at Lynch for a tourism initiative called Backroads of Appalachia.
Backroads of Appalachia has worked to boost tourism through motorsports, including motorcycle rides on KY 160, a twisting road over Black Mountain, the state’s highest peak.
The organization calls the route, which crosses from Kentucky into Virginia, the Dragon Slayer.
The awards will come through a project called the Abandoned Mine Lands Pilot Program, which is funded by the federal government through the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and administered by the state Energy and Environment Cabinet.
The idea is to provide money for projects to diversify and improve the economy of places affected by mining.
Rogers, who pushed to create the program, said Monday that Kentucky had received $130 million through the pilot project since 2016.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 1:41 PM.
