Demand for inland waterways workers

About a month ago, I was driving past the inland waterways academy at Marshall Community and Technical College and began wondering how enrollment and placement were going considering the slowdown of waterborne freight traffic in this area. There are barges tied up along the river for extended times, and there were places where boats, too, were all tied up with no place to go.

I was going to suggest a news article for my former employer on the topic, but then management downsized me, so I didn't pursue the topic with them, you know? The paper had done several articles in recent years on the academy and how it trains people to work on towboats and such. But it was something most newsroom managers seldom if ever thought about.

According to an article on the Waterways Journal Web site, there's still a demand. The article even mentions the academy here in Huntington WV. To read the part the Waterways Journal put on line, click here.