full potential, power and purpose in life.
At Coalfield, we never tell people what
their purpose is, but we push each other
to figure it out and stay committed to it.”
Educating the Workforce
The success of Coalfield Development
Corporation’s five enterprises is based
on a unique work model created to help
employees learn and develop a modern
skill set they may not have learned in
high school or pursued with higher edu-
cation, which helps address serious issues
with West Virginia’s untrained workforce.
Each of the enterprises’ employees follow
the 33-6-3 model for their work weeks:
33 hours of paid work at one of the five
enterprises, six hours of higher education
coursework in pursuit of an associate’s
degree in applied science and three hours
of personal development and mentorship in
soft skills like time management, emotional
health, physical health and goal setting.
Graduation occurs once a crew member
has earned an associate’s degree from Mount-
west Community & Technical College or
Southern West Virginia Community and
Technical College and has received at least
four professional certifications.
“The 33-6-3 model creates a real op-
portunity. It’s holistic, it leads to personal
assets that benefit a person for their entire
life, and it fosters dignity,” says Dennison.
“Because these are real jobs and real projects
that improve the community, our crew
members can feel deep pride in being part
of something bigger than themselves. All
of this learning and growing takes place in
a supportive environment that’s conducive
to growth. It’s a truly transformative op-
portunity, and it’s a chance to break gen-
erational poverty cycles. Many people in
West Virginia have faced such hardship
for so long that they need a lot of patient
support to be able to learn and grow and
develop modern skill sets.”
A Model for the State
Dennison aspires to see the state embrace
its geography and size as a strength.
“I think a key strategy to overcoming
this problem is creative placemaking, which
is an approach to positive social change
that builds character of place and remains
true to the distinctness of place,” he says.
“Creative placemaking projects can be
hitched with entrepreneurship support to
lead to local economies founded on family-
owned businesses and creative enterprise.
Rather than focusing on big, corporate
industry, I think we should prioritize en-
trepreneurship and embrace our smallness
and rugged terrain as a strength rather than
a weakness. We’ll never have 10 million
people living here, and that’s okay—it’s
good, even. And there’s no reason young
people wouldn’t want to be a part of our
small, close-knit communities if only we
could strengthen these small places and
make them more vibrant.”
As West Virginia continues to face major
challenges, from a drug epidemic and low
rankings in nearly every area to a budget
deficit, shrinking population and brain
drain, Coalfield Development Corporation
is striving to combat these trends. To date,
it has launched five businesses, created 60
new jobs, supported 250 professional certi-
fications for formerly unemployed individ-
uals and redeveloped more than 175,000
square feet of dilapidated property.
DESIGN BUILD
CONTRACTOR
CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING
PHONE: (304) 727-2770
WEBSITE: paramountwv.com
78
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE