The 10th Annual Strengthening our Appalachian Region or SOAR Summit, wrapped up in Pikeville last weekend with a raft of funding announcements.

Roughly half a billion dollars in funding was announced for various projects in eastern Kentucky, ranging from completing the Mountain Parkway expansion project to additional support for schools and high speed Internet services for several of the officials at the event.

It was a day of optimism for the region.

We want more jobs.

We want more investment.

We want to make sure that Eastern Kentucky has the resources to compete not just with other parts of the country, but other parts of the world.

At a time when business is coming to people instead of expecting people to drive hours to business.

This is one of the best opportunities for Eastern Kentucky between the money going to the Mountain Parkway and other funds.

We talked about a half a billion dollars of investment, 116 million and a new federal grant matched by 150 million in state funds for the Mountain Parkway and more than 200 million in school facilities, and Amla grants and broadband expansion.

We have to understand that that money will not always be there, that we have it now.

We need to make sure that we are responsible and accountable and getting the biggest bang we can for the money that's been given to us.

If you go to many of the communities here in eastern Kentucky, you will see exciting things happening.

Towns rebuilding, reinventing themselves, jobs, new industry coming in, diversifying.

Certainly.

I think you see throughout eastern Kentucky, the the new businesses, the new buildings, education, expanding, health care expanding.

Good things are happening throughout the region.

Years ago, you may recall, the Lexington newspaper labeled Eastern Kentucky as the nation's painkiller capital.

But today, there are more recovery beds per capita in Kentucky than anywhere else in the country, making it the nation's recovery capital.

We are now giving individuals more opportunities for hope through recovery than ever before.

Our ultimate goal is to make our region the land of opportunity, and I'm proud to see our progress Thus far.

In fact, as a result of our hard fought efforts to clean up the region, we are now focusing our work on inviting people to our region and bolstering our tourism agenda.

And when you look at the investment in the mountain Parkway for landing the entire mountain parkway, it's going to bring a lot of business.

When you look at the water and sewer money that we're putting in to expand capacity, it's going to bring a lot of business.

When you look at the not just affordable housing, but rebuilding housing after the flooding that's going to show business, brand new communities that they can be a part of and where they see their workers coming from.

So it's exciting.

I think we've come a long way from ten years ago, but we've got a long way to continue to go.

And it shouldn't take us another ten years to get there.

But I think that it certainly is a tribute to the resiliency and character of our ancestors and that they withstood the elements and move forward.

And I think we're seeing the same thing.

And the people that live here today, that same sense of character and resiliency and strength, that even with the devastating floods that hit Kentucky, they didn't give up.

They're building back better.

People love being here, but we know that there will always be challenges, but that working together, we can overcome them.

Over $30 million in funding was announced for the Abandoned Mine Plan Economic Revitalization Program, which focuses on turning former coal mining into new economic development projects.