At last week’s Governor’s Local Issues Conference, Governor Andy Beshear and his Senior Advisor Rocky Adkins presented the Peggy Satterly Spirit of Kentucky Award to the Green River Area Development District for their work on the Lisman Workforce Complex project.
The award represents excellence in service to Kentucky and is presented annually at the Governor’s Local Issues Conference.
The Lisman Workforce is a collaborative project to offer technical education and certification for highly in-demand trades in the GRADD region, including CDL, utility lineman and diesel mechanic. Webster County Fiscal Court and Union County Fiscal Court applied for a $450,000 Community Development Block Grant. Webster County applied for a $350,000 Delta Regional Authority grant to acquire a 20-acre property with six recently renovated buildings. Webster County Fiscal Court also invested $27,000 in coal severance money to retrofit the facility into a workforce complex in partnership with Madisonville Community College. The property was previously owned and used by Alliance Coal, the owner of Webster County’s last coal mine which closed in 2019.
The award is named for Peggy Satterly, who served the Commonwealth of Kentucky for 48 years, working with 11 Governor’s administrations. She was regarded as an outstanding public servant. The Peggy Satterly Spirit of Kentucky Award is presented to the sponsors of a successful project resulting from multiple government agencies working together in a cost-effective manner.
“Peggy Satterly had an unwavering dedication to public service,” said GRADD Executive Director Joanna Shake. “The Lisman Workforce Complex project is the embodiment of both Peggy’s dedication to bettering communities across the Commonwealth and of GRADD’s mission to implement programs that improve the quality of life in our region. The Lisman Workforce Complex project is particularly special to me due to my involvement in the project’s development. We are very grateful to our partners for their work in making this project a reality.”
The Lisman Workforce Complex has allowed the community college to expand the cohort sizes of its CDL and utility lineman programs, which each had long waitlists, and create a new diesel mechanic program. The project was designed to aid coal communities in Western Kentucky’s transition through the loss of the coal industry. Seventy-one students have graduated since the first cohort in fall 2022 with certifications in utility lineman, diesel mechanic and CDL. Graduates have entered stable, high-paying careers, resulting in better socioeconomic conditions and quality of life for residents of Western Kentucky.
