Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey wants to keep the Black Belt’s youth at home.

Ivey said she has seen a “brain drain” occurring in the region during the last several years as students obtain advanced training and degrees and then leave the area to seek employment.

She’s looking for a way to keep those students in the region, and she believes the Black Belt Initiative can help do just that.

The Black Belt Initiative aims to keep Black Belt youth in their home region by making them aware of scholarship opportunities at state universities for forestry and engineering majors and of job opportunities in the forest industry.

“The Black Belt Initiative is focused on informing people in the area about the forest industry and how to find a well-paying, family-sustaining job right in their community,” Ivey said. “If students make a commitment to focus on math and science they can compete for well-paying jobs in forest management and engineering, or in the technical trades that serve the industry.”

Ivey will hold a luncheon in Greenville Monday to discuss the Black Belt Initiative. The gathering is part of a series of meetings being held across the Black Belt region designed to inform local leaders and school-aged youth of the opportunities of getting a good education and considering a career in forestry, the largest employer in the region.

The meetings began Jan. 9 in Aliceville.

“I want to encourage community leaders to attend the meeting and help us get the word to rural students of the good job opportunities right in front of them in the region,” Ivey said.

The Greenville meeting will be held at the Wendell Mitchell Conference Center on the campus of LBW Community College. It will begin at noon.