 Santa knows where all the best toys are and this December many of the Hunter's smartphones are just a penny with service in Appalachian Wireless. Stop by your local Appalachian Wireless to check out all of the great smartphone deals that consistently top the nice lists. This Christmas is truly going to be bigger and better than ever. Better service, bigger savings, that is. That's today's Appalachian Wireless! Area leaders, business owners and officials teamed up today in Pikeville for the Connect Your Economy Practical seminar. Shaping our Appalachian region and the Kentucky Association for Economic Development are hosting the two-day event. At the end of the seminar, more than 100 participants are expected to be ready to begin connecting the local economy to larger markets. We've talked a lot about better internet connectivity in Eastern Kentucky and today is about learning how we leverage that connectivity, how we build economies around that in local communities. Our communities have to have this to be ready for the next generation to have the next transformation of the economy of Eastern Kentucky. Officials say a broadband connection will not necessarily bring more jobs into the region. However, it will connect the region to different jobs. There's 32 billion more jobs in the digital economy from 2010. So, the idea is, does it bring a job here or does it connect us to millions of jobs that are already available? We've just not trained our workforce to be ready for and they may not have the connectivity that's required to work for an Amazon or Radisson Hotel or U-Haul. For me, it's something that's not your typical jobs announcement where we've created 50 jobs. This is as big as a community wants to make it. Officials add this is a step in the right direction, especially for small businesses and those who want to stay in the region but reach out to those further than the region. Economic development, it's not a road race, it is a marathon and it has to be implemented and it has to be implemented in your communities and it has to be worked on every day. Our practitioners in economic development, they work every day to make sure your community needs are met and work with those projects that can come in and create new jobs. The Connecture Economy Practical seminar will last throughout tomorrow evening. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB News, I'm Shelby Steele.