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Weekly Roundup: All things events, connectivity, and opportunities

Whew! What a week it was. Trails, container farms, connectivity, SOAR events, and some high-tech training. 

The future of Eastern Kentucky isn’t about one particular idea or sector. It is about many ideas and sectors working together and coming together to create opportunities. 

Let’s dive in. 

Eastern Kentucky Trail Town Summit

Our Manager of SOAR Innovation, Sabrina McWhorter, attended the Eastern Kentucky Trail Town Summit on July 19th at the Morehead Conference Center. The event was hosted by Morehead-Rowan County Tourism.

There were over 50 attendees from four Trail Towns, communities seeking Trail Town status, The Kentucky Wildlands,  KY State Parks,  Berea College, SOAR, Gateway Area Development District,  FIVCO Area Development District, and others from the Appalachian region. The Summit provided attendees with a platform to exchange ideas and hear success stories from communities throughout Eastern Kentucky. 

Speeches and presentations were given from:

  • Seth Wheat, Director of Interpretation and Engagement for Kentucky State Parks
  • Joy Brown, Morehead Trail Town Director

AppHarvest Container Farm Launch 

The AppHarvest Foundation will launch a container farm at Johnson Central High School on August 4th at 11:30 a.m. as part of their AgTech Education Program. This container is in partnership with Maysville Community and Technical College.

The AgTech Education Program started in 2018 to cultivate a new generation of controlled-environment agriculturalists and entrepreneurs. To date, AppHarvest has launched eight container farm programs in Eastern Kentucky high schools and Johnson Central will soon be added to the list! 

SOAR featured on WCHS News 

Our Chief Operating Officer, Joshua Ball, discussed how we are working to help communities across Eastern Kentucky build Broadband Master Plans with WCHS-TV. This is part of the new EKY Connect program with Connect Humanity.

Check out the story from WCHS-TV! 

James Kash Selected as 2022 Kentucky Outstanding Early Career Agriculture Teacher 

We would like to congratulate Menifee County High School teacher, James Kash, on being selected as the 2022 Kentucky Outstanding Early Career Agriculture Teacher! As the Kentucky Outstanding Early Career Agriculture Teacher, James is now in the running to be named as one of the top six early career agriculture teachers in the United States.

SOAR Summit returns to Pikeville

We recently announced that the SOAR Summit will be returning to Pikeville and we couldn’t be more excited! Appalachia’s premier event, presented by Appalachian Wireless and the Appalachian Regional Commission, will be held on October 19-20th at the Appalachian Wireless Arena. Read all the details about this year’s Summit on our blog.

Registration for the Summit is now open! To kick off registration, we are offering a special. You can attend the Summit and the first-ever SOAR EKY Gala for just $85. That’s a savings of $50. The Gala will be held on January 26th at the Mountain Arts Center. If you can’t attend both events, you can register for the SOAR Summit only. Register now for one or both of these events! 

We hope to see you in Pikeville this October!

SOAR Innovation Expands 

The Business and Innovation team here at SOAR now covers all 54 Appalachian counties! With the support of KY Innovation, SOAR Innovation has been providing services to entrepreneurs and small businesses in many Eastern Kentucky counties for three years. We look forward to serving all ARC counties, now including:

  • Adair County
  • Casey County
  • Clark County
  • Clinton County
  • Cumberland County
  • Edmonson County
  • Green County
  • Hart County
  • Madison County
  • Metcalfe County
  • Monroe County
  • Russell County

Check out our blog for more on SOAR Innovation!

Nominations open for KY Inno Fire Awards 

KY Inno will host The Fire Awards to recognize and honor companies and organizations in Kentucky and Southern Indiana that are leading innovation in their communities.

Large or small, if your company is on fire in 2022, submit a nomination here. The deadline for nominations is Monday, August 29th.

After reviewing the nominations, the KY Inno team and Louisville Business First (LBF) staff will select the honorees and group them into categories. One winner per category will be selected and crowned the “Blazer Winner.”

All will be featured in a November edition of LBF in print and online.

SEED training events 

Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center (KYPTAC) is partnering with Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation (SKED) and Advantage Kentucky Alliance (AKA) to host Supplier Education & Economic Development (SEED) training. 

SEED training is designed to improve the competitiveness of manufacturing companies in coal-impacted counties of Eastern Kentucky. Its goal is to help them obtain the competence needed to win government and private contracts.

Upcoming dates:

  • August 3rd | Southeast KY Chamber of Commerce (Pikeville)
  • August 22nd | Morehead Conference Center

Register now for this FREE event!

Learn to be a Salesforce Administrator

Want to learn to code?

Code KY prepares those 18 and older for a career in the tech industry. And they have a FREE upcoming class to become a Salesforce Administrator. 

Interested? Apply here. 

Code KY is a collaboration between the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), Northern Kentucky Workforce Investment Board, and Kentuckiana Works. 

Upcoming Events

 

Want us to know about an event? Email michaela@soar-ky.org. 

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