Success StoryFinding Entrepreneurial Uses for Abandoned Coal Mined Land In Eastern Kentucky



Finding Entrepreneurial Uses for Abandoned Coal Mined Land In Eastern Kentucky

Author: Ronald Hustedde

Planning Unit: Community & Leadership Development

Major Program: Economic Development

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

Eastern Kentucky has hundreds of coal mine sites that are abandoned because they are no longer economically viable for coal production.  High school students from 21 coal-dependent counties took part in a series of educational workshops to help them prepare for an entrepreneurial contest to look at these sites as viable business opportunities.  A Community and Leadership Development Extension specialist presented a series of workshops and educational materials to help the teens prepare business plans to develop a particular abandoned coal mine site near their hometown.   The specialist was also involved in judging entrepreneurial plans which included tourism and recreation facilitaties, solar farms and other uses.   Winning teen participant teams received significant cash prizes from the coal industry for their entrepreneurial visions and business plans.  






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