Catherwood LibraryILR School

Two of the three coal mines in Colorado’s Delta county, which used to employ thousands of full-time miners, closed between 2014 and 2016, leaving roughly 800 miners out of work. Rather than see family and friends leave the community in search of new jobs, schools consolidate and other businesses close, a couple that owned a start-up tech company decided to open up their barn into a training facility, where 80 miners so far have learned how to splice fiber. Local utility companies were anxious to expand broadband internet, and rural residents have often suffered from a lack of fast internet that leaves communities behind compared to bigger cities. In a recent nationwide survey of 1300 adults living in rural communities, rural Americans said the key to finding new jobs close to home was easy access to training opportunities. Besides finding jobs closer to home, rural Americans would prefer to have friends and family nearby, including children who would normally move away to find jobs. Fiber optics have helped Delta county move on from coal mining and its population, rather than declining for the first time in years, is attracting those who want the small-town life.