FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2026
CONTACT:
Bay Epperly, phone: 304-747-8031 email: [email protected]
MARIETTA – Today, at the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition Office in Marietta, Ohio, a partnership of Appalachian organizations and experts gathered to discuss developing a regional action plan to boost employment and competitiveness in the manufacturing sector.
“We’re here talking about advanced manufacturing because it has the potential to create high-quality jobs for the region, equivalent to those lost in the coal industry,” said Rike Rothenstein, Senior Research Associate at ReImagine Appalachia. “It can also offer Appalachia’s youth a future career, within the region, that they can actually get excited about. Not just because it extends to robotics and applied sciences, but because, as modern manufacturing methods continue to decarbonize, the outlook for the next generation of manufacturers is brighter. What we need is to build stronger manufacturing workforce pipelines by energizing the youth and also by not letting barriers to employment for low-income adults like transportation issues, access to affordable child care, and past criminal convictions related to the opioid epidemic bottleneck the region’s economic growth.”
With today’s event, ReImagine Appalachia and the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative visited the second destination of the partnership’s three-state Manufacturing Roadshow Discussion Series. Here, local manufacturers, community members, and labor leaders joined to discuss the build-out of a robust manufacturing ecosystem across the Ohio River Valley of Appalachia. This event was co-hosted by Rural Action and the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturing Coalition (AOMC). Rural Action representatives presented on emerging methods to extract rare earth minerals from acid mine drainage (which can be used in electric vehicle battery manufacturing). AOMC discussed key considerations for bringing youth and people who face barriers to employment into the advanced manufacturing workforce.
The roadshow discussion series will conclude in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 9th. Here, the roadshow partnership will join with local manufacturing & labor leaders and stakeholders to discuss workforce pipeline development to help execute Allegheny County’s new clean tech executive order known as ACT NOW.
About ReImagine Appalachia
ReImagine Appalachia is a coalition working to ensure Appalachia is a leader in building a clean energy economy that creates good jobs and strengthens communities.