April 13, 2025 - With a new coal-friendly administration in Washington, interest is growing in this year’s biennial Bluefield Coal and Mining Show.

That show is scheduled for Sept. 10 through 12 at the Brushfork Armory in Bluefield, according to Jeff Disibbio, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of the Two Virginias, which is once again sponsoring the 2025 event.

The coal and mining show typically attracts between 6,000 to 7,000 visitors to Bluefield from all 25 coal-producing states, as well as visitors from overseas. But Disibbio believes that number could be even greater this year.

“We will be in excess of that,” Disibbio predicted Thursday. “Three years ago we had over 35 states represented and five different companies.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this week at the White House that is intended to boost coal production in the United States. That executive order 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.

“The historic deregulatory actions, announced recently by the EPA and the president, will have a massive effect on the future of the coal industry and is great news for West Virginia and Virginia as well as other regions of the country,” Disibbio said. “This will provide an enormous boost to our show, which will, beyond doubt, be well attended.”

The chamber is already seeing a tremendous amount of interest in the show, Disibbio said.

“We are,” he added Thursday. “We’ve actually had quite a few people who have signed up. A lot of our regulars have continued to sign up. Several of the companies are interested in expanding the booths they have bringing in new opportunities and some new ideas as far as their displays.”

The chamber also is seeing increased interest from ancillary industries that are coal related or support the needs of coal companies.

In all, thousands of visitors will be in Bluefield this September for more than a week as a result of the coal show.

“We invite a tremendous amount of folks to the area,” Disibbio said. “And we have the week before where people will be setting up and evening events that will held. It’s over a week. It’s eight or nine days, maybe 10 days, once we do all of the teardown.”

Although the chamber hosted a related coal symposium in 2024, the last Bluefield Coal and Mining Show was in 2022. Disibbio said the pandemic interrupted the event schedule.

Owned and presented by the Chamber of Commerce of the Two Virginias, the original Coal Show dates back to 1939, then a second series began in 1976 and 1977, and there after except during the Covid pandemic years, according to the chamber. The show has been held ever other year.

Disibbio said the focus of this year’s coal show is providing a renewed emphasis on increasing the return on investment for exhibitors. He said the theme will be “Connecting Buyers & Sellers.”

“The feedback we get from our vendors is it’s a show where they come and do business,” Disibbio said. “They come to our show to make deals. They come to some of the other shows to display products and meet and greet other companies and vendors. But what we hear when they come to our show is they are looking to make sales.”

The price of coal nationally was high during the last coal and mining show, which occurred during the Biden administration. That is expected to be different this year.

“Without getting political, prices of coal were extremely high at the last coal show,” Disibbio said. “And we had a lot of folks that were really investing based upon the price per ton in the coal economy. And now with the advent of these new regulations and the new regime, as well as the state of West Virginia pushing toward coal first, we anticipate unlimited growth.”

Unlike other shows, the Bluefield Coal and Mining Show is held both indoors and outdoors, is run entirely by volunteers and the chamber staff. The show also provides a considerable part of the chamber’s financial budget therefore making sure that the chamber is able to continue its work of contributing to the region and enhancing the quality of life in the community, Disibbio said.

For more information or to exhibit at this year’s coal show, industry officials are asked to contact the chamber at 304-327-7184 or info@coctwovirgias.com. Disibbio said exhibit application forms are currently being sent out.