Dec 26, 2017 3 min read

RUFF CREEK – UMWA Career Centers Inc. received a $3 million state grant to help it repurpose its Ruff Creek training center, which for years trained miners for work in this area’s coal mines but now will help workers gain skills for jobs in other high-demand professions.

“This is a watershed moment for dislocated miners and their families,” said Clemmy Allen, the center’s executive director, in a news release announcing the grant.

“With this Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from the commonwealth, we will begin the process of constructing a first-class adult vocational training center in Greene County,” Allen said.

The grant will help “repurpose” the Mining Technology and Training Center, a 64-acre facility on Dunn Station Road in Washington Township, to offer job training programs in professions such as cybersecurity, medical coding, diesel repair and commercial truck driving.

The renovated facility is expected to include new features such as a computer lab, exhaust and fire suppression systems and a driving area for training workers to obtain commercial driver’s licenses.

The mine training center opened in 2009 with the purpose of training miners for jobs in area coal mines. As the coal industry entered a downturn in the last few years, the center’s mission is shifting from training miners for work in the mines to retraining them for other careers.

One of the main features of the mine training center had been a simulated coal mine erected inside a 40,000-square-foot building that included artificial blocks of coal to replicate the physical layout and conditions of an underground mine.

Part of the grant will be used to dismantle that simulated mine and reconfigure the building to provide space for other educational opportunities, the release said.

“When this state-of-the-art training facility is completed, it will open up a wealth of new job opportunities to support local families and help revitalize our communities,” said state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll, who announced the grant.

“As technology advances, it is critical to ensure all local workers have access to jobs with family-sustaining wages and this grant goes a long way towards achieving that goal by ensuring our workforce has the skills needed in emerging careers,” she said.

In October, the career center received a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to begin the transition to retraining miners for new careers. The center also received a $1.2 million grant in January from Appalachian Regional Commission to help retrain displaced coal miners.