March 21, 2024 - A bill which will aid economic development in communities along the future King Coal Highway coming through Mercer and McDowell Counties as well as other parts of southern West Virginia was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jim Justice.

Senate Bill 354 creates the West Virginia Advanced Energy and Economic Corridor Authority Commission. This new commission will include economic development agencies in Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming, Mingo and Wayne Counties. The bill was among the legislation the governor signed into law Wednesday.

WV Governor Jim Justice

Senate Bill 354 was sponsored by Senator Chandler Swope, R-District 6 as well as Senator Mark Maynard, R-District 6, Senator Glenn Jeffries, R-District 8 and Senator Mike Woelfel, D-District 5. Swope said in January that the bill was “the brainchild” of Senator Bob Plymale, D-District 5.

Jim Spencer, executive director of the Bluefield Economic Development Authority, told the Bluefield Board of Directors in January about SB 354 and how it could help the city and other municipalities along the future highway’s route.

To illustrate the need for the West Virginia Advanced Energy and Economic Corridor Authority Commission, Spencer described how the construction of Interstate 77 did not benefit all the communities along its route. Places like Kingston, Mossy and Mahan in Raleigh County suffered economically because there were no plans in place to take advantage of I-77 when it arrived.

McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Wayne and Wyoming Counties have “undergone significant challenges owing to widespread changes in the national and global economies; and every effort should be made to assist the transformation of these regional economies by providing guidance to local governments, businesses, and industries to maximize economic development and diversification of those economies,” according to the text of SB 354. “As part of the National Highway System’s I-73/74 corridor from northern Michigan to eastern South Carolina, the Advanced Energy and Economic Corridor, will not only foster greater transportation efficiencies, but will also provide vital connectivity to bourgeoning markets, resulting in both job creation and economic expansion in southern West Virginia.”

“The economic development agencies along this corridor are aligning efforts to embrace the expansion of the energy and economic development policies adopted by the West Virginia Legislature as a tool for economic development,” according to the text of SB 354.

The new commission will have representatives from the counties’ economic development agencies as well as the Region 1 Planning & Development Council and the Region 2 council.

The governor will appoint a representative from businesses and industries located in the state; an economic development representative from a utility company that provides service to the corridor region; four private sector representatives from the technology, energy, advanced 1 2 16 manufacturing, and aviation, aerospace or advanced air mobility sectors in the corridor region, according to the bill’s text.

The concept for the King Coal Highway was born in 1978 when the need for improved infrastructure in southern West Virginia sparked the movement for an interstate highway connecting six states, according to the National I-73/I-74/I-75 Association.

The Bluefield to Huntington Association, created in 1979, led this vision in West Virginia, gathering public support and bringing the project to the Legislature’s attention. By 1990, the goal had shifted to creating Interstate 73, leading to the formation of the I-73/I-74 Corridor Association in 1993. This advocacy led to the inclusion of the I-73/74 project in federal highway bills and its approval by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

This association was disbanded in 1999, but it reformed in 2006 under the leadership of Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, with an expanded scope to include Interstate 75.