(Cracking the Code with Greg Kozera - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Last Sunday Lynnda and I attended the Christmas Luncheon at the West Virginia Radio and TV Museum and Hall of Fame at Huntington. One of the presenters mentioned, “One of my claims to fame is, I was there and saw Chuck Yeager (the first man to break the sound barrier) fly his jet under the Southside Bridge in Charleston.” I have heard the story of Chuck Yeager flying his jet under the Southside Bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston. It always sounded like folklore or a legend to me. Yeager confirmed in an interview, he flew an Airforce P-80 Shooting Star jet under Charleston’s Southside Bridge in 1948. Now I know an eye witness.

After the presentations, I sought out the gentleman to learn more. He told me he was a child at the time but vividly remembers what he saw and heard. The gentleman learned later, because of Yeager’s feat breaking the sound barrier, he was invited to be in a parade in Charleston. The Air Force wouldn’t allow it, so Yeager did the next best thing. He buzzed the city dipping his wing. The man told me, “Back then jets didn’t have baffles and were very loud. I remember him flying over Charleston, then the jet turned and flew back down river towards the City. I was surprised when the jet flew under the bridge. I remember looking down on the jet before the plane pulled up heading skyward. What I remember most was the loudest noise I’d every heard and tremendous vibration.” The gentleman made Yeager’s flight real for me. It was no longer myth or legend.

On the way home, we passed a lot of new housing along I-64. Lynnda remarked, “When did they build all these?” “This is some of the housing generated by the Nucor Steel plant being built in Mason County, West Virginia.” I responded, “People want to live in Putnam County because of the schools.” Nucor Steel and other new manufacturing projects aren’t a theory or a myth. They are becoming reality.

There have been many announcements of projects coming to the Shale Crescent USA region, then silence. People ask, “Where are all the jobs?” Unfortunately, some of the announced projects never happen. Sometimes projects are announced prematurely for political purposes. One project, we knew the project leader and were surprised when it was suddenly announced. I called congratulating him on the project expressing surprise at the announcement. He shared, “So was I. We don’t have funding.” It still is stalled.

Economic development is a marathon not a sprint. A project can take years to develop and more years to build. We met a company from India in 2018 who was looking for a U.S. location for a project. Their project is now under construction in the Ohio Valley creating jobs and will be operational early in 2026. That is 8 years since we met them. They had been working on the project for several years before that.

Ohio and Pennsylvania have a large number of finished projects and plant openings. The biggest was the Shell Cracker near Pittsburgh. Now in full operation. Intel is under construction near Columbus. At the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA) Winter meeting this week, we learned a number of projects are now under construction in West Virginia and creating jobs. Form Energy in Weirton is operational and has created hundreds of jobs. TCL is under construction, close to completion south of Moundsville, WV and has announced phase 2 and a phase 3. Timet is under construction in Jackson, County, WV. They will make titanium for the aerospace industry and will employ 200+ people. Nucor Steel in Mason county, WV is 80% complete and plans to be operational in early 2027. They have 2,500 contractors on site and already hired over 400 employees.

Nucor will also have some of their customers and suppliers on site with them. These are additional jobs. It is estimated each Nucor Steel job will create 4-5 other jobs in the area. Dr. John Deskins, Professor at WVU and Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research estimated over 12,000 new homes will be needed to meet the needs of the Nucor expansion. This will create additional construction jobs. These companies all said at WVMA one of their major sources of new employees is West Virginians who want to come home from jobs out of state.

At the meeting I talked to companies in the Eastern Panhandle, Morgantown, Clarksburg, Huntington and even Bluefield, WV who are in the process of expanding. A recent WVMA survey of West Virginia manufacturers said there are 2,818 manufacturing positions open now! An additional 4,176 positions will open in the next 3 years. This is almost 7,000 jobs looking for people to fill them. The jobs are already here and more are coming. This doesn’t include new projects. These are not grandpa’s smoke stack manufacturing jobs. These are clean, modern advanced manufacturing jobs requiring technical training.

Deskins’ research showed West Virginia manufacturing jobs on the rise with over 3,000 jobs created on just 9 projects and more on the way. This isn’t urban legend. It is reality giving hope to people. Workers will be needed. He also showed West Virginia has more drug overdose deaths than any other state with 88 drug overdose deaths per 100,000. The national average is 33 per 100,000. McDowell county, where coal jobs were lost and economic growth is virtually nonexistent leads the way. Where hope is nonexistent drug use is high.

Manufacturing jobs are the hope we can give people for a better tomorrow. As usual we will see people and groups who want to prevent this. We can’t allow allow fear, hype, half-truths and falsehoods continue to enrich drug dealers, steal people’s hopes & dreams and continue to kill West Virginians. Like Chuck Yeager’s bridge flight, manufacturing jobs are real. This isn’t a legend or a myth. It is time to prepare for a brighter future.

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Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a masters in environmental engineering and over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.