Jay Gould was just fourteen when he began earning spending money winding electric motors with his dad Clark Gould, a well-known mine electrician throughout the coalfields during the 1960s. The extra money came in handy. Jay put himself through college at West Virginia Institute of Technology, earning a degree in Electrical Engineering Technology with a mining option.
After graduation, Jay went straight into the coal mines, working in 28”-36” seams. Three years underground gave him a renewed appreciation for above-ground work. Starting in 1973, he worked as maintenance and chief electrician Southern Appalachian Coal Company (a division of AEP). In 1976, he co-founded Gould’s Electric Motor Repair in Indore, West Virginia (Clay County), overseeing all of the company’s technical applications.
The company experienced robust growth in the 1990s. Gould’s employed a team of 60 people and served dozens of major mining clients throughout the eastern United States. In 2008, after developing many relationships throughout the Illinois Basin in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Jay struck out on his own and founded Gould Motor Technologies in West Frankfort, Illinois and Owensboro, Kentucky.
Gould Motor Technologies was sold in 2011 when the opportunity presented itself for Jay to return to West Virginia and be near family. Shortly thereafter, Mining Motors, Inc was founded and today remains a family-owned, client-driven company. “A family culture is an important part of the company’s philosophy,” notes Jay. “From the value we place on employees to the attention and commitment given to each client, our desire to maintain a quality-first culture.”
