Eastern Kentucky Transition stories in statewide media

At least two examples of economic transition in eastern Kentucky were in the media recently. Roundabout Music Company in Whitesburg was featured on Kentucky for Kentucky’s blog last week. Co-owners Matt Carter, Josh May, Jonathan Hootman and Ben Spangler spoke with KFK about what it means to own a cooperative record store in the heart of the mountains and about what it means to the community, which has been built on media arts for the last 40 years. “Appalshop’s obviously made a huge contribution to the economy here,” says Spangler. But it’s deeper than that: “15 years ago they get this building and they basically let young people do what they want there. And what we did was have shows. It created a pretty strong music scene here. Particularly punk music. That’s how most of us met. That’s how I met my wife. That’s how Josh met his girlfriend. Fast forward to now when these people are adults and you’re starting to see a huge influx of these people who were involved in that time and moment who were impacted so deeply by it that they now want to come back to this area and they want to contribute. You definitely can’t ignore Appalshop’s place in all this. They gave young people like us a space. And in rural areas like this space is like gold.” Roundabout Music Company is building on that tradition. In addition to selling tons of hard-to-find new and used vinyl, instruments and supplies, they’re starting a...

Some advice to SOAR from the War on Poverty

The second Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) summit is almost a week away. Much has been speculated about what SOAR will produce, about what SOAR lacks, and about the many possibilities and opportunities SOAR can create. In preparation for the second summit, it’s worth looking back to other initiatives that were created with the express intent of drawing eastern Kentucky out of poverty and pushing it into prosperity. WMMT’s Making Connections News recently spoke with two veterans of the War on Poverty about lessons that set of programs and initiatives can teach the SOAR movement. Hollis West grew up in a coal mining family in southern Illinois and was the head of the Knox County Community Action Agency in the 1960s. Robert Shaffer worked at the federal Office of Economic Opportunity, which sent him to the region in the 1960s to better implement the office’s mission: “maximum feasible participation of the poor in the decision making process.” “I went to the people and asked them what they wanted instead of what we wanted them to do,” Shaffer said. He and West worked with the community, including and most explicitly with people who were poor, to create jobs and improve infrastructure. The community started a furniture and craft-making company. “This is what is hard for people to understand today: what it meant to the poor people to see that building and see that this belonged to the poor.” His advice for the SOAR process: In Night Comes to the Cumberlands, [Harry Caudill] talks about the...

Round-Up of News Coverage about President Obama’s proposed Appalachian Fund...

Yesterday, President Obama announced in his proposed budget a significant monetary lifeline for eastern Kentucky and all of Central Appalachia’s coalfields. He’s proposing $1 billion in Abandoned Mine Lands Funds for reclamation efforts that would create local jobs, a $55 million injection into rural development programs through federal entities like the Appalachian Regional Commission and USDA, and supports for UMWA pension and healthcare funds to help the more than 100,000 retired miners and their families who are beneficiaries of said funds. This is a huge deal. Whether or not the President’s budget goes anywhere in the Republican-controlled Congress, this announcement signals the administration’s dedication to reinvestment in areas hardest hit by the nation’s shifting energy landscape that sees booming natural gas and increasing affordability of renewable energy as taking up more of its future than coal. It also shows the administration is making an effort to mitigate the impact that strengthening environmental regulations has had on areas where extraction of fossil fuels takes place. We’re certainly excited about this announcement and about the conversation it’s started in the region. Here’s a breakdown of some of the abundance of coverage about it from around the region: From the Lexington Herald-Leader: “I hope that Congress will review the proposal without making it this week’s target practice for partisan bickering and gridlock,” Governor Steve Beshear said. “For an issue as important as Appalachian development and support, party-line antics do nothing but delay or even eliminate needed investments.” The Herald-Leader editorial board: “Coal mined out of Kentucky’s mountains powered the...

MACED statement on announcement of President Obama’s proposed budget plan to aid Central Appalachian communities...

Berea, Ky. – The POWER Plus Plan announced by President Obama today is a welcome and hopeful sign that brings with it much opportunity for coalfield communities. MACED believes smart federal investment is essential for creating a brighter economic future in the Appalachian region, and the Power Plus Plan is a major boost to regional economic transition initiatives already taking place. The fours pillars of the POWER Plus plan are as follows: 1)   New and accelerated investment in Abandoned Mine Land Communities. One billion dollars will be invested over five years to reclaim land and create jobs and other economic opportunity. 2)   Proposed increases to economic development and workforce development programs. This will include increased federal investments in programs critical to coalfield communities including the Appalachian Regional Commission, USDA Rural Development, EPA Brownfield programs, Economic Development Administration programs and others. 3)   Ensure solvency to the UMWA health and retirement fund through legislative reforms and new investments. 4)   Create new tax incentives to drive the development and use of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration technologies for coal and gas-fired power plants to reduce air born emissions. The majority of these programs will provide critical investments necessary to propel Appalachia forward. The programs will support critical activities including community based planning for economic development, implementation of existing planning activities including those identified in the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) process and direct investment in job creating activities. These investments can help expand healthy Appalachian forests, repair damaged and polluted streams, support...