For Appalachia to recover from the decline of coal, the region might need to look across the Atlantic and learn from the Welsh experience.
The economic transition, however, won’t be easy, as WFPL noted. For that transition to be effective, diversification and young human capital will need to drive change in the region.
A new documentary from filmmaker Tom Hansell, “After Coal,” looked to see how Wales recovered from the loss of coal jobs. Since 2014, central Appalachia has seen almost 20 percent of its coal jobs disappear, and about 41 percent of coal jobs in West Virginia, 53 percent of Kentucky’s coal jobs since 2011.
The counties most affected, too, have seen population numbers fall by thousands from the layoffs.
Wales isn’t known for a booming, robust economy, but when coal employment dropped, it was an opportunity to diversify over several decades. The strength of the region, however, lies in the people more than the next industry to emerge.
“This idea of people taking care of each other, working together in democratic fashion to solve problems and create new solutions, find new ways to do things. And I think that’s the story that brings us into the second act,” Hansell told WFPL.
Residents responded to the environment damage through reclamation and restoration, something that has a start in Appalachia. The Obama administration’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization initiative hopes to invest in the region and make it appealing for business development, tourism, and other possible paths for economic growth. It’s too early to know whether the POWER initiative will produce the promised results, but more than $14.5 million has been earmarked for the region that extends from New York to Mississippi.
Tourism has so far focused on the region’s cuisine, Civil War history, and environmental amenities.
An overlooked area is the region’s youth. “Brain drain” is a recurring theme of fears for future development, but research indicates the bright and entrepreneurial youth aren’t fleeing the region. When the young do leave, though, they’re also the most likely to move back to the region, a phenomenon known as “rural return.”
While the coal depression in the region causes pain, economic growth is a national problem, not one unique to Appalachia. Though the region has lagged behind the rest of the country, the American economy has the threat of “a protracted economic malaise” that it must confront. Like the rest of the country, the region needs investment, infrastructure development, and most importantly, human capital to spur growth. Dedicated young workers are the future of the region, and the ones in position to shape what that future will be.
