KENTUCKY — As the demand for coal decreases globally and in the U.S., some in eastern Kentucky are being laid off from mining jobs, once the region's top employer.
According to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, roughly 85% of coal jobs in Kentucky have been lost in the last 30 years
Everett Denniston is in his 11th year working in the paint department at Toyota Kentucky in Georgetown. It’s a stark contrast to his former career as a coal miner in Harlan County.
“A lot of times, you’d have to lay side-by-side and many [times] in the mines that I worked in, I’d see the roof just a few inches above the bill of my hat,” Denniston said.
Denniston was born and raised in Harlan County. Like most in the area, mining was a family tradition.
“My father mined coal and raised me, my brother and my sister,” Denniston said. “I grew up around the coal business my whole life because I lived in Harlan County.”
As Denniston described, coal was the “Toyota” of southeast Kentucky. However, much like other top coal-producing states, employment in the industry continues to plummet. Eventually, Denniston was laid off and had fewer opportunities to stay in the only business he knew.
“That was a really big blow because here, I had a wife and two small kids, but I still relied on my trust and faith in the Lord and kept on searching,” Denniston said.
Denniston said he prayed, and eventually, the Lord led him to Toyota. He found out about the opportunity at a local career fair and was hired right before his unemployment benefits ran out.
“It was a big adjustment changing career fields, but when I came to Toyota, they were very patient, very loving and caring,” Denniston said.
Fifty-five miles north in Hazard, Anthony Bowling shares a similar story.
“I didn’t want to worry about the next 15-20 years of my career if I was going to have work or not,” Bowling said. “One thing about the line industry, you’re never going to be out of work.”
Bowling is a miner-turned-electric lineman. He worked in the mines and went through multiple layoffs. Like Denniston, Bowling comes from a family of miners.
A decade ago, he graduated from the lineman program at Hazard Community and Technical College. He’s retired from climbing the poles but now teaches the future generation.
“I’m affording them an opportunity to have a successful career," Bowling said. "This isn’t just a job; this is a career, lifelong."
HCTC is also seeing many displaced miners enrolling in their commercial driver's license training, heavy equipment operating and HVAC programs. Jennifer Lindon, president and CEO of HCTC, said miners are looking for a certification they can get in less than a year with similar wages to mining.
“There are so many opportunities that involve training that’s hands on," Lindon said. "We see that’s what a lot of former miners like is, really, that hands-on, in-person training."
For former miners in similar positions, Denniston and Bowling said it’s never too late.
“It was an easy learning process," Denniston said. "I mean, it couldn’t have been any easier for a man that all he had was a high school education."
“Don’t think you can’t do it because you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it," Bowling said.
For those interested in getting certified at a technical college, there are multiple financial options, including the Work Ready Kentucky program.