Governor Matt Bevin was the keynote speaker Wednesday for the unveiling of the eKentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute in Paintsville. Utilizing the skills many unemployed miners already have, the institute will provide a 16 week program that will get the miners training in technical education and one week of soft skills training. Bevin said it wasn’t just about getting people in Johnson County back to work, but giving them back their dignity.

While Bevin has been a primary proponent of getting the institute in the area, it will be privately run. The program is part of a collaboration with many local institutions, as well as Haas Automation, which has provided much of the funding and may be providing scholarship money when the facility is opened in spring 2017.