Former U.S. Senator Joe Manchin has been named a director for one of the country’s top coal producers which has ties to West Virginia. Manchin was appointed as an independent board member for Ramaco Resources earlier this month, according to a news release from the company. Ramaco has an operations center in Charleston and two coal mining complexes in the southern portion of the state along with another in southeastern Virginia. The company is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. Ramaco employs about 1,000 people and estimates it will produce more than 4 million tons of coal in 2025.