Jimmy Palmer, 32, of Upshur County, West Virginia, works in the gas industry.

Palmer ran a rig crew drilling for natural gas. Now he’s changing jobs to work at “the other end of it” where he manages the fluid coming out of the well.  Palmer says he saves his money and plans to retire at age 40. We talked with Palmer at the Kanawha Lounge in Buckhannon. 

Palmer on voting for Trump: It was easy — because the way Trump talked and explained stuff, you could tell he was a real dude.

Palmer’s expectations for Trump: I look for better jobs for people — a more solid foundation for everything. Oil went down, everybody lost a lot of jobs. Coal went down, people lost jobs. The more gas that’s produced, the more jobs for people — especially around here. In it for twelve years, I come from a company that had literally 78 rigs to two within two months. Everything died. Because of Obama… or something. Something happened and it crashed. But, now I can see slow progress. Everything has grown so much already. I can tell things are rising. It’s going to be better for everybody. All local businesses are going to be better.


In ‘100 Days, 100 Voices’ Nancy Andrews presents photographs depicting the diversity of voices across Appalachia. These portraits strive to show the varied faces, passions, issues and opinions from around the region. Interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity. If you have an idea for ‘100 Days, 100 Voices’ please contact Nancy Andrews on Twitter @NancyAndrews or email at nancy.andrews [at] mail.wvu.edu.