We would like to welcome the following new members who were approved at the Board of Director’s meeting last weekend at The Greenbrier Annual Meeting.

General (Producing) Member:  Contour Highwall Mining, LLC, Summersville, WV, represented by David Bundy.

Associate Members:  Cook Consulting Services LLC, Charleston, WV, represented by Larry Cook; Due South Investments LLC, Macon, GA, represented by Andy Barrs; and, Ohio Valley Trackwork, Inc., Bidwell, OH, represented by Jim Whittington.

We welcome and appreciate these new members’ support and confidence and we look forward to a long and active relationship as we aggressively pursue the challenges facing our industry. 

According to those who attended, the 2014 Annual Meeting of the WV Coal Association was another success, as some were quoted as saying the programs had “the best line-up of speakers ever”.  The Membership Meeting on Friday morning had WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Office of Miner’s Health, Safety & Training Director Eugene White and WV State Senator Art Kirkendoll, who is Vice-Chairman of the Senate’s Energy, Industry & Mining Committee. 

Saturday morning’s speakers included Tony Alexander, First Energy’s President & CEO, Gene Trisko with ACCCE, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, who drove all night in order to make this function, WV State Senate President/Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kessler and political analyst Jeff Longstreth with JPL & Associates.

The Environmental Protection Agency will host public hearings on its new carbon regulations in Pittsburgh on July 31 and August 1. We’ve already paid the price for EPA’s costly and politicized rulemaking, and the agency’s newest regulations could be the most devastating yet.

Come join coal communities from across the Tri-State area and special guests, including Governors Corbett and Tomblin, for a fun-filled, family friendly rally and learn how you can get involved and take action. Let’s show EPA our support for coal!

Sponsored by America's Power, WV Coal, PA Chamber of Business & Industry, Citizens for Coal, PA Coal Alliance, Ohio Coal Association, National Association of Manufacturers, Friends of Coal, and Count on Coal

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rally-to-support-american-energy-tickets-12291772021

Jack Owens and his "Days of Gold" Tour with Kellie Pickler will headline this year's Friends of Coal Auto Fair, which is set for July 18th-20th at the Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex in Beckley.  The Fair will again feature the car show, carnival rides, food, vendors, live music, special performance and surprise guests with upwards of 50,000 people from all over the country attending.  Visit the website: www.friendsofcoalautofair.com  for ticket, sponsorship, schedule and general information on this three-day weekend event.

The Wheeling Cabela’s location and the Friends of Coal teamed up over the July 4th weekend for the 2nd Annual “Coal Miners Appreciation Days” at the store. The event featured special discounts for all coal miners as well as a lineup of special events, including a concert by Chris Higbee, a visit from the Friends of Coal IHRA Championship dragster Greg Fowler and a book signing by author Stacie Vaughn Hutton of her best-selling book “Shovel Full of Sunshine.”  The event ran on Friday, July 4th and Saturday, July 5th.  

Throughout the event, the Friends of Coal maintained a tent on site to encourage patrons to join the Friends of Coal and become advocates for the coal industry.  In addition to the concert, several live remotes were conducted by local media outlets. The Cabela’s/Friends of Coal “Hometown Heroes” celebration is designed to support “Boatsy’s Boxes”, an organization that sends gift baskets to our military stationed overseas.