Coal won’t build our economic future. Communities and their two-year colleges can.
I’m thankful for Kentucky coal and there’s no better season to say thanks than this time of the year. From the Great Depression into the 1980’s, Kentucky coal mines put food on the table for my family. When dad was one of those many miners laid off in the 80’s, the remaining coal industry in our community provided a steady supply of mechanic and welding work for our small business. It even afforded me the opportunity to learn a valuable trade or two along the way.
By the end of 2017, the share of electricity across the country powered by coal, dropped 30 percent, while natural gas grew to 32 percent and renewable energy reached 17 percent. Black Jewel Mine’s recent closure is just another example of the industry leaving Kentuckians behind.
When Blackjewel shut down, miners began protesting and the community went to work. In partnership with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Hazard Community and Technical College and Southeast Community and Technical College placed Blackjewel miners, and many of their spouses, in training programs including electrical lineman, commercial truck driving, industrial maintenance and healthcare. Programs with jobs awaiting them at the end of training due to workforce shortages. Last month, the Courier Journal reported the Blackjewel mine protest ended because these miners found work through their local Career Center and community college.
The 16 colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) are on the front lines closing gaps in the workforce and improving Kentucky’s economy. Whether its partnering with a new aluminum manufacturing plant in Ashland, expanding an electrical lineman program in Madisonville or a new CDL program in Bowling Green, the colleges’ emphasis on workforce begins with a business-first, workforce training conversation, then follows with a solution. Not the other way around.
KCTCS colleges listen to those business needs and prepare Kentuckians for jobs in their communities — from expanding apprenticeships so more students can work as they complete training while they’re making a living, to transitioning our men and women from military service into life after service.
This is what community colleges are uniquely positioned to do. They serve their communities, and it’s this type of partnership, between business, the community and the college, that can help build Kentucky’s economic future. Here’s why.
As mines continue to close, the economy continues to change; over 90% of jobs created post recession in 2008 require some form of postsecondary training. Increasingly, this training requires more than academic knowledge, it requires advanced technical skillsets that quickly change as the future of work evolves at a faster pace. For example, technologies like automation and artificial intelligence affecting the workplace began to arrive a few years ago, displacing workers and requiring employees to routinely evaluate and upgrade their skillsets.
While the economy continues to rapidly change, industries such as healthcare, IT, transportation and manufacturing are citing massive workforce shortages. For example, within the skills/trades industry (welding, HVAC, electricians, plumbing), national data shows us that for every four tradesmen retiring there is only one skilled worker to replace them.
We’re thankful and proud of our coal heritage. Unfortunately, the coal industry continues to have less impact on our economic future. Technology, and population trends will challenge all industries to adapt. Kentuckians’ boom or bust relationship with coal can teach us how to navigate this future by deepening our alignment between workforce and economic development efforts and our education system.
Community colleges are well poised as workforce and economic development hubs for connecting education, community partners and industry. The time is ripe to double-down on how we support, empower and challenge our community colleges to close workforce gaps and build Kentucky’s economic future.
Shannon Gilkey is vice chancellor of Academic and Workforce Development for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
