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Coalfield region has turned the corner, ‘more work to do,’ says VCEDA executive director

After seeing more than 1,500 jobs and $37 million in investments come to the coalfield region this year, “we still have work to do,” said Charles Yates, executive director of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA), at yesterday’s annual meeting of its executive advisory board.

Created in 1990 and comprised of business leaders from throughout Virginia, the executive advisory board meets annually to hear reports on economic development progress in the seven-county, one-city, VCEDA region. Theme of yesterday’s event was “Turning the Corner with Energy and Technology.”

 “We’re definitely at the next level of jobs we hoped to be seeking after we launched our technology initiatives in the early nineties,” said Yates. “And with the arrival of CGI-AMS and Northrop Grumman and the proposed $1 billion coal-fired power plant, we have turned the corner, but we’re not through yet. There is still more work to do.”

Yates said the VCEDA board and staff have worked hard to advance and broaden the economic base of the region as then Virginia Delegate Ford Quillen envisioned in 1988 in leading the effort to create the coalfield authority. Since its creation, VCEDA has helped the region attract 67 new companies, assisted with 38 expansions and helped add 13,400 jobs, Yates said.

Eva Teig Hardy, advisory board chairman, who is senior vice president external affairs and communications of Dominion Virginia Power Co., called the region’s economic development activity “a remarkable story” of how a region has come together, set important goals and focused on a common approach. “We need to share this great success story,” she said.

The board chair also briefed the group on the proposed coal-fired power plant to be located in Virginia City in Wise County. “This is a major regional asset that cannot be moved overseas on a whim,” said Hardy.

Last month, a Dominion-led consortium of power producers announced the proposed site for a 500-megawatt plant that will use two million tons of Virginia coal a year and support 250 mining jobs. The plant will employ 800 during the construction stage, 75 when in operation and provide a $4 million payroll, Hardy said.

Coal remains a critical asset in the region, and Michael  Quillen, president and CEO of Alpha Natural Resources and a member of the VCEDA board of directors, told the group all the easy-to-mine coal is gone.

Quillen, who served as VCEDA’s first board chairman, said the coal industry’s biggest challenges are finding places to economically mine coal and replacing an aging labor force whose average age is 50. “In the next 10 years, the industry will see a total turnover of its labor force.”

Congressman Rick Boucher also addressed the group, telling them that the coal industry remains a significant contributor to economic growth. He said the Energy Information Administration predicts continued growth in the industry and that by 2030, 57 percent of the fuel mix to generate electricity will be coal, compared to 51 percent today.

Bill Hutchinson, vice president of CGI-AMS updated the advisory group on the software development facility locating in the technology park in Lebanon. He said the rationale for coming to southwest Virginia was due to the “collaboration and cooperation” of local and regional officials. “You are solving economic development issues and finding ways to get things done for us,” he said.

Hutchinson said CGI-AMS currently has 55 employees operating in a temporary facility in Lebanon. He said the company will be adding to staff gradually and hopes to employ 300 by mid 2008.

Bob Diggles, deputy program director for Northrop Grumman, said the help desk and back-up data center to be located in Lebanon will start with 43 employees the first year and ramp up to more than 400 as the new facility comes on line.

The advisory group also heard from Jeff Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, who outlined the state’s economic development strategies. This involves working with regions of the state to establish existing industry programs, to help companies identify expansion opportunities in certain regions of the state and to attract new companies into Virginia.

About the VCEDA Executive Advisory Board: Created in 1990, the VCEDA Executive Advisory Board includes Virginia business leaders who provide advice and serve as contacts and liaisons in marketing the VCEDA region. Members include Eva Teig Hardy, advisory board chairman, senior vice president external affairs and communications, Dominion Virginia Power Co.; U.S. Senator George Allen; Dan Carson, vice president external affairs, Appalachian Power Co; Don M. Green, executive director, Napoleon Hill Foundation; J. Brett Harvey, president and CEO, CONSOL Energy Inc.; Linwood Holton, former Virginia governor, McCandlish Holton,; Tommy Hudson, president Virginia Coal Association; Joshua N. Lief, Sands Anderson Marks & Miller;  A. George Mason Jr., Mason Energy Consultants, Inc.; Ford C. Quillen, Circuit Court Judge, 30th Judicial District; Daniel D. Smith, senior vice president energy and properties, Norfolk Southern Corporation; and Robert W. Woltz Jr., president, Verizon Communications.

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