LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Jacob Adair is a senior at Ralph R. Willis Career and Technical Center in Man. He’s excited for the new gear manufacturing business expected to open in 12-18 months.
The facility will be located at an industrial park near the Southwestern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in Holden, West Virginia.
“It means a lot because growing up, there’s not a lot around here,” Adair said.
Logan County Economic Development Director Rocky Adkins says they have been waiting for a business to occupy the empty space — more than two decades after Earl Ray Tomblin Industrial Park was created.
“This area has been struggling getting new businesses to come in, so in that time period we’ve went through a lot of different people looking at it, no takers. Well, we’re glad to announce that we now have a taker,” Adkins said.
Diana Barnette is the president of Logan County Commission and owns US Gearworks with her husband.
The Barnette family decided to break ground on two buildings for US Gearworks after struggling to find gears for their mining repair business, also hoping to boost the local economy with at least 75 new jobs over the next three years.
Jeremy Frazier has spent 19 years as a welding instructor. He said there’s no limit on what his students can do.
“If you just build a manufacturing plant alone, you’re creating jobs in electrical and welding and machining because you have to build the building itself,” Frazier said.
Parker Burns is training to become a certified welder and he wants more opportunities close to home.
“It opens up more job opportunities and more reasons to stay around here. If you got more bigger jobs paying well, there’s no need to go anywhere else to find one,” Burns said.
“It’s a big opportunity for the upcoming students and for some of us seniors, it really, really helps us out in the long run,” Randal Nash, a student hoping to become a welder said.
Carol Howerton is the director for Workforce Development Programs with Marshall’s Advanced Manufacturing Center. She said they will work with US Gearworks to give students technical training.
“Our national apprenticeship hub will help them establish an apprenticeship program for employees and support the local career center students with certifications and specialized training for machinist to help build the workforce to meet their needs. It’s exciting to see the new manufacturing job opportunities for the local economy,” Howerton said.
The principal at Ralph R. Willis Career and Technical Center, Macel Adams, said her students also work with the nearby Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College for their welding program.
“It gives our students a better experience at what’s required in the workforce and sometimes they choose to further their education and their training at our local career and technical schools and the advanced manufacturing center.”
Adams said she enjoys seeing students with local jobs doing well and she has seen a need for her students.
“I know that our economy has suffered, however, there’s a huge vacuum of people that are retired or for some reason unable to work.”
Diana Barnette said the facility and equipment is partially funded by loans from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority and the Department of Economic Development.
She said the EDA loan requires them to hire 75 employees in the first three years of operation, provide an average salary of $65,000 per year and to complete the project within 18 months.
The family plans to ship gears across the country for use in multiple industries including aerospace, railroads, subways and coal mines.
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