$7.5M grant to help workers hurt by Eastern Kentucky's coal industry decline gain new job skills and find employment in new industries

Funding prepares workers for jobs with growing, high-wage employers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Recent decline in the coal mining industry – eastern Kentucky's largest employer – have led to job losses across the area and increased the region's unemployment rate to the highest in the commonwealth. To help those affected by the job loss, the U.S. Department of Labor today is announcing a $7,494,017 National Emergency Grant to offer training and employment services that will prepare affected workers for jobs with the area's high-growth and high-wage employers.

"For so many places in Kentucky, coal mining hasn't just been the economic lifeblood, but also the fabric that defines and unites the community," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "Recent changes in the energy economy have had a profound impact on Appalachian families and communities that have been sustained by the coal industry for generations. The grants we're awarding today will help workers affected by these changes identify new opportunities, land new jobs and build a brighter future."

This award is part of the Obama Administration's efforts to target federal assistance to coal communities and workers impacted by changes in the coal economy, where job losses in recent years have continued a decades-long trend. This effort complements the POWER+ Plan proposed in the President's FY 2016 budget that seeks to invest in new coal technologies, address the legacy costs of coal mining, and help workers and communities reliant on the coal industry adapt to the changing energy landscape.

The grant is being awarded to the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. It will serve approximately 685 workers laid off between January and December 2014. Training is designed to equip workers for jobs in the area's high-growth and high-wage sectors: Business Services; Construction and Skilled Trades; Energy Creation and Transmission; and Healthcare.

The grant will fund the following employment and training services:

• Basic skills training to provide math and language instruction needed to move on to higher levels of training or new employment.
• Certification and licensing training to obtain certifications needed to pursue a new career.
• Job-related skills training to provide instruction for a specific skill set.

The Eastern Kentucky program will also develop paid-work opportunities in skilled trades; assist in identifying job opportunities with out-of-area employers for those participants willing to relocate; and offer entrepreneurial training in conjunction with the Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation.

The full grant approves a $7,494,017 award, of which $1,642,746 will be released initially. Additional funding up to the amount approved will be made available as the program demonstrates a continued need for assistance. In 2013, the Eastern Kentucky program was awarded a $5,192,500 grant to provide re-employment services for displaced coal miners and their families.

National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary of labor's discretionary fund and are awarded based on a state's ability to meet specific guidelines.