April 17, 2025 - Coal, the fossil fuel that is still abundantly available in Southwest Virginia, has been a topic of discussion in recent days for local economic development officials.

The week began with the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, or VCEDA for short, closing on a $1.3 million loan to a Tazewell County manufacturing firm that specializes in heavy metal fabrication for various industries, including underground mining. Then on Tuesday members of the VCEDA board met with U.S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., to discuss ongoing progress on the Coalfields Expressway in Southwest Virginia.

The new four-lane corridor is named after the coal industry, which years ago was the primary source of employment in the greater Southwest Virginia region. In the early stages of the Coalfields Expressway project, which also extends into neighboring West Virginia, coal synergy agreements were sought that allowed coal companies to help create the roadway bed through the extraction of coal.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders at the White House designed to boost coal production in the country.

Those executive orders directed the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a “mineral;” directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands and to lift barriers to coal mining; directed the Secretary of the Interior to end a moratorium, which paused coal leasing on federal lands; and required federal agencies to rescind any policies that seek to transition the nation away from coal production.

Any efforts to boost coal production on the national level could also help to bolster coal mining in Southwest Virginia, according to Jonathan Belcher, who serves as VCEDA’s executive director and general counsel.

“Coal remains among the highest-paying and most economically significant industries in Southwest Virginia, so any state and federal policies which recognize that role and help those industries to thrive and even grow will benefit Southwest Virginia economically, not only in the mining industry itself, but in the many other industries and businesses which help to support the mining industry, all the way from convenience stores to manufacturing companies like Lawrence Brothers,” Belcher said in response to questions from the Daily Telegraph.

The loan funding approved by VCEDA earlier this week for Lawrence Brothers, Inc. of Bluefield, Va., will allow for an expansion project at the manufacturing plant that will also create up to 37 new jobs. The authority previously approved two prior loans to the company that allowed for similar expansion projects in 2019 and 2021.

Belcher said the company still serves the mining industry, but also serves other industries as well, including energy and electrical, automotive, material handling, airline and the general metal industrial goods industry.

“While recognizing the importance of the mining industry, which cannot be understated, it is also important for businesses and the economy of the region to continue to diversify, and again Lawrence Brothers is a great example of that with their move into additional markets that are non-coal related,” Belcher said.

VCEDA itself was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to help diversify the economy of Southwest Virginia following the downturn in the coal industry that began in the late 70s and continued into the 80s.

At the time, lawmakers identified VCEDA’s goal as enhancing and diversifying the economy of Southwest Virginia to help create jobs and to market the deep south counties as an e-Region with a focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies and entrepreneurship.

VCEDA is unique in that it manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. The counties served by VCEDA include Tazewell, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott and Wise, along with the city of Norton.