What is being called the premier event in Eastern Kentucky is now underway in Corbin with thousands in attendance. From a state-of-the art 3D printer to an AI lab and robots on the exhibit floor, the eleventh annual SOAR summit is in its second day. And according to SOAR chief operating officer Joshua Ball, the summit is a major convening in Appalachia that both encourages and equips East Kentuckians in exciting ways.
This is the stage that we create for Kentucky's Appalachian counties to shine. And so, we know that there are challenges in this region. We recognize those challenges, and we address them every day collectively. And I think this is a time where we can create the stage to celebrate the work that we're doing, but the work that needs to continue.
SOAR is an acronym for shaping our Appalachian region. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan outreach that has made major strides in economic revitalization in Eastern Kentucky. The initiative was born from the fallout of the area's coal industry and seeks to solve East Kentucky's problems that come with population loss through innovative economic development strategies and increased education and training opportunities for job diversification.
Ball has sat down with WUKY to talk about the importance of the SOAR Summit:
Ideas take shape here. People are inspired. They're connected with one another, and they leave, equipped and encouraged to go back to their communities and continue to build a broader future, that we all envision. And it starts in every county, in every community, in the hearts and the minds and the feet and the hands of the people of Eastern Kentucky. So, that's what SOAR is about. You know, our mission is to is to equip and inspire, but we're also here to eliminate the red. We wanna eliminate the distressed counties. We feel like everything starts with meaningful employment, and and that's our goal is to work as an organization and work with our partners so that every eastern Kentuckian finds meaningful employment because that's when the red is erased and that we reach our full potential as a region.
On Thursday, Mitch Landrieu, the senior adviser to the US president for infrastructure coordination, will be at the SOAR summit providing disaster relief updates from recent floods and tornadoes.
US 5th Congressional Representative, Hal Rogers, and Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear, will be wrapping up the summit with appearances on Friday. In the meantime, Ball said all are welcome to attend, and open registration is ongoing at the Corbin Civic Center doors. Ball said he hopes people will leave this year's summit not only motivated, but equipped with the knowledge and connections to take back to their communities to make progress happen.
There's not one single thing that's gonna happen in Eastern Kentucky that's gonna that's gonna fix things. It's all these small things that we have to enhance with our colleges and our universities and a our and our and our business and industry that's here. You know, we we wanna attract new business and industry in, but we gotta be relentless in the pursuit of every opportunity for those business and industries that are already here that wanna grow. So it's, again, our theme is just relentless. We're relentless for Eastern Kentucky, and we're relentless for every individual in this region. And we're just relentless in the pursuit of opportunity every single day, and that's what we get to wake up and do. And for me personally, as a person who's lived in this region, like, it's the honor of a lifetime to be able to wake up every day and fight and advocate for, people that I love in a region that I love.