Source: Observer – Reporter
Date: October, 30, 2024
RUFF CREEK – The United Mine Workers of America Career Centers in Ruff Creek will be recruiting and training workers for a manufacturing facility near Morgantown, W.Va., that will be used for lithium iron phosphate raw material production, it was announced Tuesday.
The facility, in Bridgeport, W.Va., had been a glass manufacturer but closed in 2017. It is expected to employ about 75 people and begin operation in early 2026, according to Sanjiv Malhotra, the CEO and founder of Sparkz, the battery manufacturer that will be taking over the facility.
The worker training that will happen at the career center is the result of an agreement between the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and Sparkz, which they say will help workers who have been displaced from jobs in a shrinking coal industry gain new skills and find new employment.
Cecil Roberts, president of the UMWA, was on hand for the announcement, and said, “These jobs are not a threat to the coal industry. These are jobs that coal miners can have.”
He added, “Every job we create in the U.S. is better than a job in China. … They’re going into an empty building. That building used to have people in it making glass.”
Training of potential workers will not begin at the UMWA Career Centers until a definite opening date is scheduled for the facility, according to Erin Bates, communications director for the UMWA. If it does, in fact, open in early 2026, Bates explained, the center will start its training in the fall of 2025.
A list of displaced coal industry workers they will contact to determine their interest has been assembled, according to Bates.
“There’s quite a bit of work before we can start physically training the workers,” she said.
The U.S. Department of Energy has infused almost $10 million into the venture, and Ali Zaidi, the White House climate adviser and an Edinboro native, was present for the announcement. He noted America’s status as an innovator and leader in technology, and explained, “We have to reinvest in the source of strength that brought us this far.”
The facility in Bridgeport had been operated by Asahi, a Japanese glass manufacturer, before it was shuttered.
“We’re very thankful that we have the UMWA as a partner,” Malhotra said. Sparkz is based in Livermore, Calif.
Lithium iron phosphate is used in rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles, and the UMWA said the facility will help fortify the United States’ clean energy supply chain.
“A lot of money has flowed from Washington, D.C., to rural parts of (West Virginia),” Roberts said. “That’s a good thing. This is not pork. This is an opportunity, and we would not have this opportunity unless we have friends in Washington, D.C.”
The UMWA Career Centers first opened in 1996, and provides training in such areas as commercial truck driving, cybersecurity, diesel mechanics and mechatronics, which combines mechanical, electric, electronic and software engineering.
Written by: Brad Hundt
