Area Development
River View Coal, which operates an underground coal mine in Union County, will establish operations in Henderson County, Kentucky. The $35 million project is expected to create 260 jobs.

The company will construct a 30,000-square-foot facility on 56 acres in response to growing demand. Work is expected to begin in April 2023 and be completed by December 2024.

“River View is excited to expand into Henderson County. The coal industry has faced a lot of challenges in recent years, but this project allows us to continue to mine coal for the power producers who care about providing affordable and reliable electricity to homes and businesses,” said River View General Manager Bill Adelman. “Kentucky has many state and local elected officials who have supported investment and growth in our commonwealth. We’re appreciative of their efforts, and the laws they’ve passed, that make expansion opportunities like this one more likely to happen. River View looks forward to what this project means for our miners and Henderson County.”

To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) today preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $3.4 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $35 million and annual targets of: creation and maintenance of 260 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years, and pay an average hourly wage of $49 including benefits across those jobs.

“It is great to see continued job creation in Northwest Kentucky,” Governor Andy Beshear noted. “We are pleased to welcome River View to Henderson County as this significant investment and job creation breathes new life into an industry that has always been important to our economy.”

Additionally, KEDFA approved River View Coal for up to $300,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing. By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.

In addition, the company can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.

“We are so excited to welcome River View to Henderson County. This investment and job creation has an annual impact to our community of nearly $300 million,” added Missy Vanderpool, executive director of Henderson Economic Development. “The partnership between River View and Henderson is strong and we know it will continue to grow even stronger. Thank you, River View, for your investment in Henderson County.”

River View, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance Coal LLC, began producing coal in 2009 and is now the largest underground room-and-pillar mine of its kind in North America. The existing operation includes a preparation plant onsite with a throughput capacity of 2,700 tons of raw coal per hour. Currently, River View employs 783 people in Kentucky. Alliance Coal also operates sister mines in Eastern and Western Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia.