September 9, 2019 - The Bluefield Coal Show opens on Wednesday morning with the opening Breakfast at 8:30 am. Thousands of members and supporters of the coal industry are arriving in Bluefield September 11-13 with over 7,000 expected over the three days!

The coal show is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of the Two Virginias and this year’s show has a new general chairman, Bob Ramsey. Ramsey is president of Peters Equipment and Ramsey Industrial and was named the new chair of the coal show in October 2018.

Bob Ramsey

“It’s just about here after many hours of work by our great volunteers,” said Ramsey. “We are very excited about the new items in the show and there is great enthusiasm for the show amongst the many folks who work hard to make it all happen. We are expecting an excellent turn out!” said Ramsey, who explained that. an industry leader is speaking at the breakfast and then opening the show.

“This year’s keynote speaker is Jimmy Brock, President and CEO, CONSOL Energy,” said Bill Reid, Chair of the Media & Exhibitors’ Breakfast, and Managing Editor, CoalZoom.com and Coalminerexchange.com. “We are very pleased to have such an eminent coal personality join us and everyone is looking forward to hearing his views on the future of the global industry.” Earlier this year, CONSOL announced plans to open the new Ittman metallurgical coal mine in Wyoming County, West Virginia in 2021.

Jimmy Brock

A new feature of this show are live TV interviews, which will take place on the opening day. “Exhibitors have been invited to apply for an interview and a panel has selected them based on a new product or a significant contribution to the coal industry,” explained Bill Reid, who is also Chair of this project. “We want to give additional exposure to exhibitors while at the same time play our part to promote the coal industry.” The interviews will be streamed live and recorded on all chamber social media platforms and projected on large screens located throughout the show.

The 2017 show had 180 participating vendors, and the chamber now has 192 signed up for this year’s show, according to Debbie Maynard, Vice-President of the chamber. There are 27 new exhibitors. The coal show continues to be a huge event for both the region and for the coal industry and is certainly the place to be this week!

Bill Reid