So for coal miners, the switch isn’t worth the money, even if they were good coders. It's helping to diversify the economy in a region struggling to let go of a lucrative but declining industry. Former Vice President Joe Biden urged displaced coal miners to take up coding and computer programming on Monday during a campaign swing through New Hampshire. Biden, who recently claimed that blue-collar job losses should not stand in the way of a greener economy, made the comment while discussing his plans for expanding “jobs of the future” if elected in 2020. Two years later, in an old Coca-Cola factory by the Big Sandy river, nine men and one woman remain. Read The Cloudcast #293 - Silicon Hollow, From Coal Miners to Coders by with a free trial. Read unlimited* books and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. Kentucky's Bitsource has a novel idea for a tech workforce: Laid-off coal industry professionals. Coal mining is not for the faint of heart and we are still going to need miners for the 4th Industrial Revolution. December 24, 2018; I was at a holiday party this past week and learned of an organization that helps coal miners retool themselves as computer programmers! Biden, who recently claimed that blue-collar job losses should not stand in the way of a greener economy, made the comment while discussing his plans for expanding “jobs of the future” if elected in 2020. Code to Coal would take the straightest, most direct path to reach miners where they are by setting up coding bootcamps in coalmines. Meet the Company Teaching Coal Miners To Code. Maybe the 29-year-old can learn to code. This is a race we will not win. “Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake!” Biden riffing on how Obama put him in charge of judging the "jobs of the future" suggests re-training miners as coders. From this pool, they chose 11 former miners who scored highest on a coding aptitude test. But, Rusty thought a potential miner-to-coder pipeline actually makes a weird kind of sense. My grandfather was a coalminer, in Pennsylvania, and he worked hard hours doing dangerous & … Pennsylvania’s 5,000 coal miners remain an influential voting bloc. Biden riffing on how Obama put him in charge of judging the "jobs of the future" suggests re-training miners as coders. Because coal miners do so much more than just “throw coal into a furnace”. The pair recruited Justin Hall, a long-time coder in the area, and got to work figuring out how to build a business. The company has committed to retraining workers from the declining mining industry and nine of the first 10 apprentices, who started in May, have a connection to the mining industry, including three former underground miners, three former surface miners and three former industry workers. The goalposts are going to move the whole time on us Great way to win an election. Basically dopey Joe managed to insult the coal miners and the coders. "We should retrain the coal miners to be coders... 12 years from now AI is gonna be able to do basic coding." It is a question of aptitude. The environment is rigid and unforgiving, and in a crunch, the hours can be weird and long. Mr. Rogers is a conservative who represents Kentucky’s Fifth District, home to many unemployed coal miners and one of the poorest and most population-depleted districts in … Coal mining is a highly technical field that relies more on engineering smarts than on physical labor, so the workforce is primed for new technical skills. It's somehow like everyone thinks it's easy to become a computer programmer, and that people entering the field don't have to deal with things such as messy spaghetti code. Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested Monday that displaced coal miners should learn to code. In Waynesburg, Pa., a non-profit program trains coal miners in the language of computers. The former … The feds think subsidized high-speed internet connections could support newly trained digital workers. Clyde Spencer says: January 5, 2020 at 4:31 pm Jeff We aren’t just talking about IQ. Or do auto body. Former Vice President Joe Biden urged displaced coal miners to take up coding and computer programming on Monday during a campaign swing through New Hampshire. To be good, you need to know your math tables, great grasp of algebra, be a perfect speller, and have strong logic and analytical skills. The former … Bit Source has only hired 10 coders, but almost 1,000 responded to its ads as the realization spreads across Appalachia that coal’s heyday is over. Jeff Alberts says: January 5, 2020 at 12:13 pm “He really thinks a coal miner has the mental capacity to write code?” That was a low blow. Yet the government has embraced exactly that idea. ... Biden riffing on how Obama put him in charge of judging the “jobs of the future” suggests re-training miners as coders. From Coal Miners to Coders: The U.S. Job Creation Myth -Part I Published on September 22, 2017 September 22, 2017 • 13 Likes • 10 Comments There is a huge difference between a 59-year-old coal miner who has advanced black-lung disease and less than a high-school education and a 29-year-old coal miner who has a long life ahead of him (probably longer if he gives up coal mining as a career). Coal miners being taught HTML coding as a second career The nonprofit program Mined Minds offers an intensive 32-week boot camp. By Kevin Collier. How this Kentucky startup turned coal miners into coders Published on March 29, 2019 March 29, 2019 • 3,286 Likes • 140 Comments Biden riffing on how Obama put him in charge of judging the "jobs of the future" suggests re-training miners as coders. By MaryAlice Parks and … Coal miners become computer coders by Patrick Gillespie @CNNMoney April 22, 2016: 10:03 AM ET Marvin Laucher, part time coal miner, part time website builder. Or become an X-ray technician. COAL MINERS TO CODERS IF IT'S WISHFUL to think you can sparkgrowth with a policy of "if you build it, they will come," it sounds even more fanciful to form a strategy around "if you build it, they will stay." For example, coal miners could easily go into a trade other than coding, or perhaps another profession. Or learn how to cook Italian cuisine. They are going to be a key link bridging coders and the physical world. The idea of turning coal miners to coders thereby reinventing the region's economy gained worldwide attention beginning in spring 2016. Reinvention From Coal Miner to Coder. Miners switch from coal to coding Startup gives some a light at tunnel end by TIM LOH BLOOMBERG NEWS | February 8, 2016 at 2:08 a.m. by TIM LOH BLOOMBERG NEWS | … Former Vice President Joe Biden urged displaced coal miners to take up coding and computer programming on Monday during a campaign swing through New Hampshire. Biden, who recently claimed that blue-collar job losses should not stand in the way of a greener economy, made the comment while discussing his plans for expanding “jobs of the future” if elected in 2020. 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