Paintsville Herald

Mr. James H. Booth will be honored with one of the first two honorary degrees presented by Big Sandy Community and Technical College on Friday, May 13, 2005, for his valuable assistance to the Big Sandy College Educational Foundation in the early stages of its Fulfilling the Promise Campaign. He has made exceptional, outstanding and lasting contributions to the community and to Eastern Kentucky as a whole. As president of Czar Coal Corporation, Mr. Booth has chosen to stay in eastern Kentucky, providing many jobs for the area.

Born in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, Jim Booth has not ventured far from his native Martin County. The youngest son in a family of seven, his parents are the late Sheridan and Bertha Booth.

From his college years into the early 1990s, Mr. Booth grew his business from being an underground coal miner with Wolf Creek Collieries to being a prominent entrepreneur with direct marketing of his produced coal through Beech Fork Processing, Inc., his first direct marketing venture.

From 1995 to 2003 Mr. Booth acquired Czar Coal Corporation, Marshall Resources, Inc. and the River Division of Pen Coal Corporation. Mining and retail operations under Mr. Booth's leadership employ approximately 1,607 employees in the eastern region of Kentucky and West Virginia.

In the mid 1980's, Mr. Booth and his associates entered into the retail industry with 13 convenience stores and 10 fast food stores including Taco Bell, Subway and Pizza Inn. He also purchased R & J Building Supply, 13 Pennzoil Fast Change Oil Outlets and The Elite Insurance Agency. On August 21, 2001, Mr. Booth acquired the United States Achievement Academy, which is a national level honors program for outstanding high schools, colleges and universities across the nation, recognizing students in academics, sports and music.

Mr. Booth presently serves on the Inez Deposit Bank Board of Directors, Pikeville College Board of Trustees, Big Sandy Regional Industrial Development Authority Board, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Board, Coal Operators Associates Board, and Martin County Economic Development Board. He also serves as Chairman of the Morehead State University Board of Regents, where he was recently honored as the 2000 Outstanding College of Business Alumni and was named to the MSU Hall of Fame. He was the recipient of the prestigious 2001 Governor's Economic Development Leadership Award. He is currently serving his first term on the Federal Reserve Board in the Cincinnati District of the Cleveland Bank Federal Reserve.

Mr. Booth and his wife Linda reside at Inez, Kentucky.