Corbin taking center stage again with East KY Leadership Conference

Last fall’s SOAR Summit at the Corbin Arena placed the spotlight firmly on Corbin and Whitley County as people from all over the region converged in this area to network, educate, promote and award individuals who are out there doing great things in their respective communities. Next month, another great opportunity to do those things will present itself when the 36th Annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference comes to town.

I have been following along recently with announcements concerning this year’s conference, and I am very excited to see how the event will impact the tri-counties, specifically Corbin, when it takes place April 25-26.

Hosted by the City of Corbin and the Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission, the 36th Annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference will have the theme of “Comeback Communities: Housing and Redevelopment Strategies,” and will feature a number of interesting breakout sessions featuring special guest panelists and moderators. These breakout sessions will cover the following topics:

• What is an elected official’s role

• Recovery and Restoration: Making lemonade out of lemons

• No place to stay – why? Issues of homelessness

• Comeback Communities: Key elements of leadership needed for success

• AirBnBs: Bringing opportunities and challenges to our communities

• People-ready communities

I think that these sessions will offer some valuable insight, and my hope is that they will all be well attended.

With an apparent lack of individuals willing to run for various elected offices right now, I think that the “what is an elected official’s role” breakout session could help to de-mystify things a bit, and hopefully get some folks interested in adding their name to a ballot at some point in the future.

I also think that the “recovery and restoration” session will be of value to many folks, especially considering the struggles that the region as a whole has endured in recent years in the wake of different severe weather events. Those threats are only going to worsen with time, I’m afraid, so learning how to properly respond to them could prove to be crucial in the months and years ahead.

I think that the “issues of homelessness” could be of particular value to us here in the Corbin area, as this problem has clearly worsened in the last 5-10 years. We have dedicated a lot of space here in the pages of the News Journal to covering different efforts by local churches, law enforcement agencies and charitable organizations as they have come together to combat the homelessness issue, but clearly, folks are still struggling, and they are still in need. Perhaps this session will shed some light on new ideas that will help to improve this difficult situation.

So, how does one attend the 36th Annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference. It is not a free event, but considering all that you will get access to, I think the price of admission is very fair. Depending on if you want access to the full slate of programming, or if you just want to attend the special awards banquet on the night of April 25, you will be required to pay either $25 or $50 (plus fees) now through April 18. After April 18, the cost to register for the conference will increase to $60, plus fees.

To register, visit the East Kentucky Leadership Foundation online at www.eklf.org. On the homepage, you should see a link to “get tickets” which will take you to an eventbrite.com page where payments can be processed. While on the site, take a few minutes to look around and get more information on next month’s conference, the programming being offered, and additional info on the EKLF.