 More than a thousand people attended the 2016 SOAR Summit in Pikeville which focused mainly on areas of innovation in southeast Kentucky. Organizers of the event invited business leaders and members of the communities across the region to bring ideas and possible solutions to the summit with the hopes of showcasing those ideas. We all know the hurdles that we face here in eastern Kentucky and it's very important to get people together and convene regional leaders from legislators to other elected officials to business folks to nonprofits coming together to talk about those issues but also to talk about finding solutions for those issues. Congressman Hal Rogers, Governor Matt Bevin and a host of other elected officials addressed the group reminding everyone that solutions for problems facing eastern Kentucky don't always have to be from sources within the region. What SOAR has done is it's gotten all the minds of the region and outside of the region all the way to the national level thanks to Congressman Rogers to come in and see the issues that we're facing in eastern Kentucky and thus continue to bring us together and talk about those issues. For many attendees of the SOAR Summit, the main reason they attend here after a year is solely for the networking opportunities. While the classes and all the gatherings are very nice, what goes on in the halls, the networking opportunities is where it's really at and that's how you change. It's getting that one-on-one connection. Whenever you get out the hallway and you can meet and discuss one-on-one with folks, I think that is a very important time. But one thing everyone did agree on at today's summit is that county and city lines need to be erased and everyone needs to focus on the needs of the region as a whole. Getting everyone together and to work toward one common goal of making eastern Kentucky a better place is what it's all about. And we need to break those barriers of county lines. There's so much ingenuity amongst our own people that if we utilize it, we can do what we want to do. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB News, I'm Shannon Deskins.