McKee, KY. – To achieve outcomes that have never been realized, you must do things that have never been done.

That’s exactly what Keith Gabbard, chief executive officer of Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC), did in 2009.

Jackson County built a fibre to the home and business system in Jackson County, but Gabbard and PRTC didn’t stop there. They collaborated with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) and Teleworks USA to leverage their connectivity and investment to create a remote work revolution in Jackson and neighboring Owsley County. That was 2015 and more than 900 remote jobs later, PRTC is still connecting people to jobs in the digital economy.

This work captured the attention of The New Yorker. Take a look at the article HERE.

SOAR’s Blueprint for the Future of Appalachia has seven goals. Broadband Connectivity and six ways — Small Business in the Digital Economy, 21st Century Workforce, Industrial Recruitment, Healthy Communities, Local Foods and Regional Tourism — we plan to leverage it to create a future in Appalachia.

PRTC is a Blueprint Partner of SOAR. EKCEP and Teleworks USA are Grassroots Partners of SOAR.