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BUSINESS
Hundreds seeking coal jobs at reopened western Ky. mine
HARTFORD, Ky. -- The prospect of hundreds of high-paying jobs at a reopened coal mine in western Kentucky has miners scrambling to sign up.
St. Louis-based Armstrong Coal said over the summer that it would reopen the Big Run mine in Centertown, about 30 miles south of Owensboro. The company said there would be about 900 jobs with starting pay of $19 an hour.
Ohio County's career center has taken 100 phone calls a week from people asking about the new coal jobs.
"Our phones have been ringing off the hook since it was in the Messenger-Inquirer (newspaper) that next day, and it hasn't stopped," said Rebecca Leach, the center's director.
The center has been open late an extra night a week to do testing and orientations, and two sessions have drawn more than 100 people, she said.
"The word of mouth has been so much we haven't had to put an ad" in newspapers as was planned, Leach said.
Armstrong has said it will spend about $60 million to reopen the mine.
Coal fueled Ohio County's economy for decades. In 1979, a total of 2,343 Ohio Countians worked in five underground mines and 33 surface mines. But environmental concerns about the high sulfur content of western Kentucky coal led to a coal bust in the 1980s from which the region has yet to recover.
By 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted only 109 mining jobs in the county.
Ohio Judge-Executive David Jones said the county's Fiscal Court meeting room on the second floor of the Community Center has been used for training, and the first-floor multipurpose room could be used likewise, he said.
"Anything we can use to help Armstrong Coal with this process ... we'll do it," Jones said.
Armstrong has formed a human resources department to handle applications. So far officials say about 500 people have brought resumes to the company's Madisonville office.
But company officials say applications must be filled out at career centers in Ohio, Daviess and Muhlenberg counties.
Big Run was listed as the county's last remaining underground mine when it closed in 2006. It had about 140 employees at the time.
