 August is hot, and so are the savings at Appalachian Wireless, where all smartphones are 50% off. Even the 64, 128, and 256-gig models. Two-year agreement required. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless and East Kentucky Network Company. More than 130 groups took part in Friday's SOAR Summit in Pikeville, and with that many groups, the ideas to push the region forward economically are potentially endless. Two of those groups are at different stages with their ideas, one still being a long shot, and the other already making a difference. Earlier in the week, EKB News reported that a group of investors hopes to bring a casino and resort to Jenkins. The idea for that proposed casino and resort was born at SOAR. James Hibbs and Gary Stratton, who work with us with Raven Rock Entertainment, they participated in the SOAR events in the past. And again, it came just from the notion of how do you create jobs? Raven Rock Entertainment investor Eric Snead has ties to the region, and he said he hopes the group's proposed casino will make a positive difference in the region's economy. James and Gary both have Kentucky roots. I have Kentucky roots as well. My mother's family's from Eastern Kentucky. But that's really what spawned it. And so James wanted to come back and do something there for his hometown, and Gary wanted to do something for Eastern Kentucky. One group that's already making a difference is the Letcher County Broadband Board, a flowering organization whose seed was planted at a previous SOAR summit. As a part of my solution that I gave to SOAR was that they support the work and help develop these organizations throughout the counties, and then forming above that a board of boards or a forum. So all of that came out of the SOAR organization. We were asked to come here and to highlight our showcase on the floor about the development of broadband boards throughout the region. The Letcher Broadband Board has already gained national attention for its work. Board President Harry Collins said the board wants to be the final piece of the puzzle to bring broadband access to the most rural areas of Letcher County. We know that Kentucky Wired is coming with that middle mile, but it's going to take people in the communities to really develop the infrastructure on the other side of that, the last mile, in order to get that to our consumers' homes. Collins told EKB that the Letcher County Broadband Board got its start from a thousand dollar SOAR mini-grant and is making real headway in its mission. The investors in the Casino Resort project are hoping to have the same success. At the SOAR summit in Pikeville, Chris Anderson, EKB News.