PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — Sidelined by the collapse of Kentucky's coal industry these workers are finding careers after coal.
Changing careers is often a great challenge. In Eastern Kentucky, transitioning from the coal industry to another can seem monumental because of limited opportunities, however a high-tech Kentucky enterprise is hoping to help thousands discover there are career after coal.
Michael Salmons shares something in common with many of his neighbors in Paintsville and residents of Eastern Kentucky in general. He's been laid off by his coal job.
“You know it’s frustrating because I've always worked. I never had been laid off before," Michael Salmons recalls. “At the time when I got laid off there was just nothing around here in this area.”
Salmons is here in Paintsville 30 miles from the West Virginia border and up Highway 23 from Pikeville. Several years ago Salmons chose to stay in Paintsville rather than move his family out of state when his surface mining job was ended.
"I could have went to Pennsylvania and different places like that and done gas line work but I had some sick parents at the time and I didn’t really have the opportunity to go do stuff like that," Salmons said.
Since that time Salmons has worked in a local body shop and then commercial maintenance but now the husband and father has a new opportunity at the East Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute in Paintsville, known simply as "eKAMI."
“This is a very intense program. It’s not for the meek," Kathy Walker explains.
Walker is the founder of eKAMI, which is retraining former coal employee, like Salmons, in robotics and metal work, highly sought after and well-paid skill sets
Walker says in many cases when former coal workers begin the 15-week training course many don’t realize how well suited they already are for advanced manufacturing.
“This has been like fitting a round peg in a round hole. They are amazed when they get here. So this has been really an amazing transition of careers for everyone has come through," Walker told Spectrum News 1.
More than 200 people have graduated from eKAMI since its launch in 2018, and Walker says perhaps one-third came from coal.
“These our my instructors. All of our instructors we’ve grown our own. They are all from Eastern Kentucky.”
The program operates with millions of dollars in federal grant money given to ventures located on reclaimed coal mines. eKAMI’s 40-thousand square foot facility is hugged by the scarred rock wall of a former mine.
"We can make parts for just about any industry you can imagine. The aerospace industry, military, automotive, SPACEX, and we have graduates making parts in all of those industries today," Walker said.
On this day Salmons is training with a state-of-art lave machine, shaping metal, while redefining his life and it’s a change he was inspired to make by someone close.
“The last part of the program will take it down to the finish size," Salmons explained. “I found out about this class, through, actually my brother went through this class before I did, the class before this one.”
Salmons has felt the pressure of unemployment before but each passing day he’s more confident than the last. “I’m hoping this will be the career that takes me to my retirement, actually.”
Salmons is confident he’s found a career after coal.
Click HERE to learn more enrolling into the eKAMI program.