Even during the coal boom era of the 1970s, when OPEC's oil was more scarce making West Virginia coal more valuable, people in my coal county often said, "We're going to have to diversify someday."
Now, through a combination of market forces and federal government regulations, coal is staggering around the boxing ring, hoping to get through to the next round-Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 to be precise. The hopes of a more friendly presidential administration naturally appears as an oasis on the horizon to those involved in the coal industry.
Nevertheless, even with an Environmental Protection Agency that is more fair-minded toward the coal industry, attracting investors and coal operators to get back in the game again could be a tough sell in the years ahead.
First they'd have to buy the equipment, deal with the existing regulations, and then hire the labor force needed to make a large coal operation work. Many investors might get scared away after eight years of the Obama administration.
So while the state's leaders are certainly within their rights to demand fairer treatment for the West Virginia coal industry, any rational analysis suggests that West Virginia is now face to face with all those wistful comments of yesteryear: yes, it is time to diversify the state's economy; past time.
One significant advantage in this holy mess the Republican legislators have inherited stands out. After eight decades of one-party rule, the facts before the state are so compelling that the need for a change in direction is self-evident. Change has to happen now, just in order for West Virginia to have anything to offer the next generation for work.
While a few traditional industries survive-timber comes to mind-big corporations providing hundreds of jobs for a given county are unlikely to ride to the rescue, with Proctor and Gamble's new facility near Martinsburg a notable exception.
What then? How can West Virginia first re-imagine itself to its people and then outwardly to the rest of the world?
South Carolina, specifically the Greenville-Spartanburg area, offers a role model for the Mountain State. In the western "Upstate" of South Carolina, this former textile hub had a similar fate not that long ago. When textiles dried up, much the same as chemical plants have in the Kanawha Valley, the mainstay of the Greenville/Spartanburg private sector was shriveling.
Today, Greenville/Spartanburg has emerged as one of the nation's top automotive centers in the country.
BMW famously located its U.S. manufacturing plant in Spartanburg and announced last year a billion dollar expansion to make it the largest BMW plant in the world. Some people complained about the incentives being offered automotive businesses coming to the area, but the results have been exceptional for western South Carolina.
Beyond that BMW plant, ancillary automotive industries have cropped up. Now, in the same area where old textile factories used to create cotton fabric with antiquated looms, some of the most cutting edge research in the world into automotive systems is conducted daily. Wages there are way up.
Along the way, South Carolina has picked up serious private sector partners in building up educational facilities, from K-12 to colleges and universities and community colleges. The companies of the future need employees who are teachable and well-educated, so helping educational institutions is in their best interests.
Leaders at the state level have talked about diversifying West Virginia's economy for decades. The difference now is that it really has to be done.
The upcoming election year should show us who has a real plan for developing and diversifying the state's economy, backed up with business savvy and a look around at what other states have done.
West Virginia can find its niche on the Eastern seaboard. We just need to assess our strengths and start now to offer an attractive place to grow new businesses. That doesn't have to mean selling out to whatever huckster comes along, promising the moon.
Rather, it means rewarding the smart visionaries among us in business, politics, and education who have really tried to figure out how to make West Virginia competitive again.
Stephen N. Reed is a former talk radio host on WCHS-AM.