Shaping our Appalachian Region, a bipartisan initative to improve and diversify the economy of Appalachian Kentucky, has scheduled summer listening sessions throughout the region to seek input for community members. One such forum, held Thursday in Prestonsburg in Eastern Kentucky, was a chance "for the local community to have their voices
heard and their ideas recorded, with the hope that plans for economic recovery will bubble up from the grassroots instead of trickling down from Frankfort" and Washington, Aaron Nelson reports for the Floyd County Times.
"The evening’s discussion revolved around Eastern Kentucky’s unique cultural identity, our underutilized assets and the roadblocks to getting the region as a whole to collaborate for a common goal," Nelson writes. "Participants commonly cited the seemingly arbitrary county lines as a hurdle for a regional effort, but our reclaimed mine lands as a resource ready to be exploited. Our remote location was seen as a hindrance to attracting new industries like manufacturing, while our subpar broadband infrastructure is restricting our ability to draw high-tech jobs. At the same time, we have a region with indisputable natural beauty and a workforce brimming with tenacity and ingenuity." (Read more)
Also on Thursday, a similar listening session was held in Morehead, where taking the cattle industry to a new level was the most discussed topic, followed by raising sheep and goats, promoting agri-tourism, and expanding oak and sorghum harvesting to take advantage of the growing whiskey industry, Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, reports on the Appalachian Kentucky page of The Rural Blog. Weaknesses cited include the lack of communication, coordination and cooperation among the region’s counties and lack of access to land because of absentee ownership and other reasons.
"The evening’s discussion revolved around Eastern Kentucky’s unique cultural identity, our underutilized assets and the roadblocks to getting the region as a whole to collaborate for a common goal," Nelson writes. "Participants commonly cited the seemingly arbitrary county lines as a hurdle for a regional effort, but our reclaimed mine lands as a resource ready to be exploited. Our remote location was seen as a hindrance to attracting new industries like manufacturing, while our subpar broadband infrastructure is restricting our ability to draw high-tech jobs. At the same time, we have a region with indisputable natural beauty and a workforce brimming with tenacity and ingenuity." (Read more)
Also on Thursday, a similar listening session was held in Morehead, where taking the cattle industry to a new level was the most discussed topic, followed by raising sheep and goats, promoting agri-tourism, and expanding oak and sorghum harvesting to take advantage of the growing whiskey industry, Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, reports on the Appalachian Kentucky page of The Rural Blog. Weaknesses cited include the lack of communication, coordination and cooperation among the region’s counties and lack of access to land because of absentee ownership and other reasons.
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