By Stephen Dethrage

June 19, 2017 - Four Alabama counties, including Tuscaloosa County, are set to benefit from a $1.2 million grant meant to foster economic growth in areas that are suffering because of the loss of jobs in the coal and mining industries.

The grant was awarded by the Appalachian Regional Commission to Birmingham’s Southern Research Center, who will combine the money with their own to create a $2.4 million “Prosperity Fund” meant to finance development efforts in Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Fayette and Walker Counties.

Corey Tyree, a project leader at the Southern Research Center, said in a news release that the four counties have lost 12,000 coal-related jobs and $800 million in wages since 2012.

“These four Alabama counties have accounted for 10 percent of the coal job losses in the nation,” Tyree said. “But this initiative focuses on moving forward. We have to look for new approaches to job growth and seek out new opportunities for these counties.”

The Prosperity Fund aims to generate $11 million in new business revenue in the four counties by creating at least 10 entirely new businesses, assisting 10 existing startups and generating at least 80 jobs.

“The Prosperity Fund project is another example of changing views of what economic development looks like,” Tyree said. “It aligns with the idea that small businesses are the heart of the jobs economy.

Alabama Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed, R-Jasper, released a statement praising Southern Research Center and the Appalachian Regional Commission for the decision to invest in the four counties, all of which are in his district.

“This is tremendous news for West Alabama,” Reed said. “The coal and mining industries have weathered a tough storm the past seven or eight years, and we need an all-of-the-above, all-hands-on-deck approach to increase economic opportunities for displaced workers.”