POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (WTAP) Senator Shelley Moore Capito is making her rounds across the mountain state this week.
She stopped in Point Pleasant Thursday to tour the Appalachian Railcar Services.
The company is looking to expand in order to offer more job opportunities.
New facilities are in the works, with the hopes of employing up to 50 people at the facilities in Point Pleasant and Hinton.
Capito says West Virginia's coal industry is in a downturn, but something must be done about it.
"We've got to find ways to reconstitute, to keep fighting for coal, but to create more jobs. That's what I think is great here in Mason County. There's a lot of flat land here for development. We're sitting on a flat piece of property right here, right by the river that has a great history. We have to re-purpose this. People that live in Mason County want to stay here and raise their families and in order to do that you have to have a good, solid job," says Capito.
Capito says she is interested in the issues the railcar service is having because she is on a committee in the senate that deals with rail safety.
She says one of the provisions they are looking at in the senate is how to carry crude oil in a railcar safely.
She thinks that is a big opportunity for growth for Appalachian Railcar Services because that is what they specialize in.