Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, will speak about training coal workers for new jobs at the UMWA Career Center on Tuesday.
Rough Creek – The National Mineworkers Career Center in Rough Creek will recruit and train workers at a manufacturing facility near Morgantown, West Virginia, used to produce lithium iron phosphate feedstock, it was announced Tuesday. .
The Bridgeport, West Virginia, facility was a glass manufacturing plant that closed in 2017. Sanjiv Malhotra, CEO and founder of battery manufacturer Sparkz, said the company plans to employ about 75 people and begin operations in early 2026. Manufacturer to take over the facility.
The worker training at the career center is the result of an agreement between the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and Sparks to help displaced workers in the shrinking coal industry acquire new skills and find new jobs. find.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts was present at the announcement and said, “These jobs are not a threat to the coal industry. These are jobs that coal miners can take.”
He added, “Every job we create in the United States is better than any job we create in China. … They’re going into an empty building, where people used to work making glass.” I did.”
The UMWA Career Center will not begin training potential workers until a firm opening date is scheduled, according to UMWA Communications Director Erin Bates. If it actually opens in early 2026, the center would begin training in the fall of 2025, Bates explained.
Bates said a list has been created to contact coal industry leavers to determine if they are interested.
“There’s a lot of work to be done before we can start physically training workers,” she says.
The U.S. Department of Energy is putting about $10 million into the project, and White House climate adviser and Edinboro native Ali Zaidi attended the announcement. “We must reinvest in the sources of strength that have gotten us here,” he said, citing America’s status as an innovator and leader in technology.
Until its closure, the Bridgeport facility was operated by Japanese glass manufacturer Asahi.
“We are very grateful to have UMWA as a partner,” Malhotra said. Sparkz is based in Livermore, California.
Lithium iron phosphate is used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, and UMWA said the facility will help strengthen the U.S. clean energy supply chain.
“There’s a lot of money flowing from Washington, D.C., to rural (West Virginia),” Roberts said. “That’s a good thing. This isn’t pork. This is an opportunity, and I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if I didn’t have friends in Washington, D.C..”
The UMWA Career Center first opened in 1996 and offers training in areas such as commercial truck driving, cybersecurity, diesel mechanics, and mechatronics, which combines mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and software engineering.
