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Eastern Kentucky Hosts Economic Transition Event

Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition via Facebook

Participants in this weekend’s Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition event will get an update on renewable energy efforts in eastern Kentucky. That includes a look at solar initiatives.

The Saturday activities are part of an ongoing program to educate young workers about how local economies might transition to new employment sectors. Letcher County’s Bluegrass Solar Owner Tre’ Sexton is expected to give a tour of his company’s 80 or so panel installations at the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum. He says the biggest focus right now is on local governments.

“The biggest way we think we can do that right now is helping these cash strapped municipalities, fiscal courts, city governments, things like that to eliminate as much of their overhead as we can,” Sexton said.

Sexton says the hope is to increase employment locally in solar technician and maintenance areas. While good workers, the eastern Kentucky business owner says many of these jobs currently are held by people from places like Michigan, Chicago, and Indiana.

Stu Johnson is a reporter/producer at WEKU in Lexington, Kentucky.
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