Leaders say the funding will help the Eastern Kentucky Talent Network connect more people to long-term job opportunities.
Reed Adkins, executive director of Shaping Our Appalachian Region, said community colleges and other partners have helped ensure the network supports eastern Kentuckians pursuing nursing and health care careers.
The goal, Adkins said, is “to make sure that our kids who are enrolled in medical fields have wraparound services that will actually help them complete those programs to get them into a career that will keep them in eastern Kentucky.”
Adkins said the grant will help SOAR improve workforce tools and technology, strengthen employer-to-candidate connections, increase visibility of job opportunities across the region, and expand outreach into communities where residents remain disconnected from or unaware of employment resources.
He said the region has already drawn the attention of several companies that offer well-paying jobs in the nuclear energy sector.
“One company has hired 52 people from eastern Kentucky to work remotely, and essentially what they do, they travel about half a year, about 26 weeks a year, to whatever location the company needs, and they work on nuclear reactors,” Adkins said.
Unemployment rates in eastern Kentucky have trended higher than those in other counties across the state. According to state data released last month, Lewis County recorded Kentucky’s highest unemployment rate at 8.4%, followed by Wolfe, Magoffin, and Martin counties.
