This article was produced by Resource Rural.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for West Virginia News Service reporting for the Resource Rural-Public News Service Collaboration

When asked, Lindsey Crittendon describes Huntington, West Virginia as “home.” She uses that word to orient her from a geographical perspective, but also to convey the general feeling of the small city that sits on the Ohio River, at a point where West Virginia connects with neighboring Kentucky and Ohio. 

“Everybody knows everybody,” she said of her hometown. “It’s a very tight-knit community…I think it’s the most beautiful place on Earth.”

Huntington’s position among the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains certainly offers a scenic backdrop for a city supported by a diverse economy, including the country’s second-busiest inland port, a strong manufacturing sector, as well as robust healthcare, education, and transportation industries. Even with all of its strengths, Huntington — and West Virginia as a whole — is often misunderstood by those who don’t live there, according to Crittendon. She said their capabilities are often underestimated or pegged to certain blue-collar industries.

“When I was growing up, whenever I would talk to someone that wasn’t from here, I would get questions like, ‘Do you all wear shoes?’” Crittendon said. “I think maybe there are a lot of misconceptions about West Virginia and its people.”

But those who live here know the real story of hardworking communities looking to build a life in the state they love. To provide hometown opportunities for a local population that sometimes has to look beyond state lines for employment, NewForce, a fully remote and tuition-free coding school, is investing in training a budding West Virginia tech workforce. The six-month program is part of Generation WV and utilizes funding from the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities initiative and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a federal stimulus package approved by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crittendon, a former social worker, is a graduate of the program. She landed a job right out of the academy and has since progressed to become a lead software engineer with a different company, Booz Allen Hamilton, a management consulting services company based in McLean, Virginia with an office right in Huntington.

“The NewForce program has drawn a lot of attention to the talent that’s in the area and has actually brought jobs here,” Crittendon said, using her experience as an example. “I can really see West Virginia becoming a second Silicon Valley. We have a lot of underappreciated, undervalued talent that I really think translates really well to tech.”

It is the hardworking spirit of those living in West Virginia that Crittendon believes acts as a valuable foundation for tech-based careers. From coal miners to farmers to steel workers, Crittendon said West Virginians have a unique discipline and an enviable drive to do a job and do it right.



“If I could describe West Virginians in one word, it would be ‘tenacity.’ So, absolutely, when I think of West Virginia, I think of hard workers,” she said.

Part of the novelty of the NewForce program is the mock-work environment it establishes for its students. To best prepare the students for the current tech workforce, the program has students build applications for a pretend company. At times, they work in teams, and despite being remote, they move through the program as a cohort — engaging in a virtual classroom for seven hours every weekday over the six-month program. 

Once they graduate, they’re qualified to work as web developers or junior, full-stack software developers, and they receive assistance with job placement, which is how Crittendon discovered her first opportunity in the field. 

For Crittendon, the transition from social worker to software engineer has similarities despite sounding like a drastic departure. With social work, she loved solving people’s problems and helping them navigate solutions. As a software engineer, she feels like she’s doing the same thing in a new way that allows her to give back and continue to live in the community she loves.

“It gives me a strong sense of pride,” Crittendon said of being able to donate her newfound skills to an organization within her community that supports underprivileged children. “If I can use my skills that I have developed to benefit my community directly from my home, rather than fleeing from it, I have a lot of pride in that.”


This article was produced by Resource Rural.


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North Dakota has 30 available workers for every 100 open jobs. To help confront workforce shortages, the state is now accepting grant applications to kick-start solutions at the local level.

The Department of Commerce's Regional Workforce Impact Program invites towns, cities and their business development groups to seek out the grants.

Arik Spencer, president and CEO of the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, said providing seed money to foster innovation in worker recruitment might boost rural areas at a competitive disadvantage.

"Whether it is starting manufacturing ventures or doing other creative things," Spencer outlined. "To the extent that this can help those, maybe, small communities or underserved communities get people to move there and bolster their workforce, we think that's a positive outcome."

Spencer pointed out the innovation might look like closing affordable housing gaps, which he said is a common roadblock around the state. He and other stakeholders monitoring the labor landscape still hope for broader support when the Legislature reconvenes early next year. North Dakota's labor shortage woes appear to be more pressing than its neighboring states.

Spencer noted no matter the size of the community, applicants appear to be in the driver's seat in coming up with fixes that work for their populations.

"While living in Fargo may be attractive to some people, maybe living in Watford City's attractive to others," Spencer acknowledged. "This grant program allows those regional communities to figure out their own solutions and tackle those with the support of the state."

The application period began this week and runs through Jan. 21. There are grant caps for certain categories. For example, a local coalition focused on recruiting talent can receive a grant of up to $250,000. The cap is higher for infrastructure needs related to worker recruitment, such as child care centers.


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Groups from across Michigan are sounding the alarm on the effect Republican-backed policies would have on people in rural parts of the state.

In a recent webinar by the group Progress Michigan, leaders say policies laid out in Project 2025 are in stark opposition to the needs facing rural Michiganders. Representatives from Indigenous tribes, public school teachers and family farmers gave their views on the potential changes if the GOP regains power.

Dakota Shananaquet, member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, said she fears for her people's basic rights.

"The Project 2025 Agenda is a right-wing power grab that would harm Indigenous communities, our sovereignty and the ability for us to exercise our vote," Shananaquet asserted. "It would make outcomes worse by defunding health care and education programs."

Project 2025 is a 900-page document outlining plans for a conservative takeover of the federal government. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has disavowed any part in developing the document. However, dozens of former Trump administration officials contributed to the proposals.

Bob Thompson, president of the Michigan Farmers Union, which represents hundreds of small and medium-family farms, said the GOP plans to eliminate programs helping independent farmers implement conservation and clean energy goals, and most of the federal farm program's current financial safety net features.

"Family farmers operate on narrow margins and need the protection of many of the very programs that Project 2025 seeks to eliminate," Thompson explained. "Most elements stand against what rural folks want for our families and our future here in Michigan."

Gary Wellnitz, Northern Michigan field representative for the American Federation of Teachers-Michigan, said Project 2025 would have negative and destructive effects on public schools across the state.

"It's going to make the safety in our public schools far worse," Wellnitz contended. "We're going to see small schools closing down, We're going to see teachers losing jobs by the thousands if this were to take hold."


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With many rural hospitals on the financial critical list, Congress created a Rural Emergency Hospital model in 2021 to help deliver critical care to struggling communities in Nebraska and elsewhere.

Two years in, the Bipartisan Policy Center has issued a report which showed care is improving where the system has been implemented but more work is needed. Under the model, 32 Rural Emergency Hospitals in 14 states have been established.

Julia Harris, health program director at the center, said the plan is preserving health care options for rural residents.

"If you start seeing hospital closures go down, that's a success measure," Harris asserted. "Because this should be what helps them meet the needs of the community and stay open rather than being forced to close."

Harris pointed out under the Rural Emergency Hospital model, a rural facility can offer emergency department, observation, outpatient care and skilled nursing facility services in a distinct unit. Warren Memorial Hospital in the town of Friend is currently the only such facility in Nebraska.

Harris noted the growth of the model is reducing the number of rural hospital closures but acknowledged challenges remain in operational flexibility and the availability of financial assistance. She emphasized they studied states across the Midwest, looking for hospitals and communities which could benefit from a Rural Emergency Hospital.

"The reason we chose Kansas and Nebraska is because there was some modeling done to see which states would have the most hospitals eligible for this model," Harris explained. "Those were two states that had a lot of potential REHs. "

Other recommendations in the report included support for prescription drug discounts, more flexibility in converting to Rural Emergency Hospital status, timely payments to speed the process and more funding for providing technical and operational assistance, with what are called technical assistance centers.

"There is a federal TA center to help hospitals that are trying to consider their pros and cons," Harris observed. "We advocate for continued funding for that TA center to be able to continue to do this sort of advising and help states make these choices."