Eastern Kentucky has never lacked talent.
What our region has lacked, for too long, is access to opportunity — and sometimes, the belief that opportunity is even possible.
That’s why SOAR is excited to announce a new $200,000 investment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support and strengthen workforce initiatives across Eastern Kentucky.
This funding will help expand the EKY Talent Network, improve the EKY Job Board, and continue growing the EKY Remote initiative, all efforts focused on helping Eastern Kentuckians connect with meaningful careers and long-term opportunities.
But for us, this work has always been about more than employment numbers.
It is about people.
More Than a Job
Every day across Eastern Kentucky, people are searching for stability, purpose, and a chance to build a better future.
It’s the single parent trying to find reliable work close to home. The displaced worker looking for a second chance. The recent graduate wondering if they have to leave the mountains to build a successful career. The employer struggling to find qualified talent while believing deeply in the potential of this region.
At SOAR, we believe people need purpose.
We believe meaningful work creates more than a paycheck. It creates confidence. Stability. Momentum. It gives people the opportunity to believe in themselves again and invest in their future.
That belief is what drives this work.
Strengthening the EKY Talent Network
The EKY Talent Network exists to help Eastern Kentuckians connect to opportunity.
Through job matching, employer connections, workforce support, and career navigation, the initiative is designed to help individuals move toward long-term success while helping employers connect with the talent they need to grow.
This new investment will help SOAR continue improving the tools, technology, and outreach efforts that make those connections possible.
As workforce needs continue to evolve, the region needs stronger systems that help people find pathways into meaningful employment — especially in communities where access to opportunity can still feel limited or out of reach.
Building Careers Without Leaving, or Staying Away
For generations, many Eastern Kentuckians believed they had to leave home to build a successful career.
And for many families, that was reality.
People left the region searching for opportunity, often taking their skills, education, and careers somewhere else because they simply could not find those pathways close to home.
Today, remote work is changing that conversation.
SOAR’s EKY Remote initiative is focused not only on attracting remote workers to Eastern Kentucky, but also on reconnecting former Eastern Kentuckians to the place they still call home.
That is what makes this effort unique.
We are working to create pathways for people to return to Eastern Kentucky without sacrificing their careers or financial stability. That means bringing people home with their jobs, their experience, their families, and their wages, while also creating new energy and investment within local communities.
It is a different way of thinking about workforce development.
When someone moves back home while maintaining a remote career, the impact stretches far beyond one individual. Families reconnect. Local businesses benefit. Communities retain talent. Schools gain students. And the region gains new perspectives, leadership, and ideas from people who understand both Eastern Kentucky and the broader workforce landscape.
At the same time, the initiative also welcomes new remote workers who want to build a life in Eastern Kentucky and contribute to the region’s future.
Because strengthening Eastern Kentucky is not only about creating jobs.
It is about creating reasons for people to stay, return, invest, and believe in the future of this region again.
The Momentum is Real
Across Eastern Kentucky, momentum is building.
Employers are hiring. Communities are collaborating. People are stepping forward, ready to pursue something more for themselves and their families.
This investment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation helps SOAR continue building long-term systems that connect that momentum to real opportunity.
Not just for today.
But for the future of Eastern Kentucky.
Learn More and Get Connected
Whether you are searching for your next opportunity, considering a move back home, looking to hire talent, or exploring how remote work can help you build a future in Eastern Kentucky, there is a place for you in this work.
- Explore the EKY Talent Network
- Learn more about EKY Remote
Opportunity changes communities when people are connected to it. Help us continue building a stronger Eastern Kentucky, one job at a time.