[EKUAlum05]

Yeah, I'm just asking questions and curious what fuels the economy. I know Pike County is the largest county, and the drop in population is probably from lower production of coal.

Coal and Railroad have went hand and hand. As coal dropped so did railroad jobs. Obviously coal plays the primary role, but the fact the railroad system has basically died off in the area also hurt tremendously. When those two go it has ancillary effects on all the other small businesses in the area that depends on that economy to fuel them. Natural Gas also used to aid the economy a great deal and has fallen off hard even before the coal industry fell.

As for the rest of Pike County, luckily the city of Pikeville has some more white collar and healthcare traction that has helped keep it above water. Pikeville Medical Center has became the leader in the medical field for Eastern Kentucky. Pikeville remains a hotbed for the legal field as well, and with so much unemployment due to the coal economy that had kept the fires stoked. Throw in UPike and some added business in the Pikeville City Limits and the County seat seems poised to more than weather the storm.