UK announced a $300,000 partnership on Tuesday with a group created to aid Eastern Kentucky.

Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) was established in 2013 by Gov. Steve Beshear and Congressman Hal Rogers to develop more healthcare and education in the region.

According to a report from LEX 18, SOAR executive director Jared Arnett said UK is SOAR’s first presenting sponsor.

“The University of Kentucky’s Corporate Partnership comes at a pivotal time for Appalachian Kentucky,” Arnett said on the SOAR website.

“We are not simply the University of Kentucky. We are the University for Kentucky,” said UK President Eli Capilouto on the website. “But we have a particularly close relationship and responsibility with and for communities throughout the Appalachian region.”

According to LEX 18, UK has about 125 research projects in Appalachia which are focusing on the region’s chief health concerns; cancer, heart disease, pulmonary disease, strokes and unintentional deaths.

“Improving the state’s health is not a task that can be accomplished in months,” said Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen on SOAR’s website. “But through partnerships with SOAR and the University of Kentucky, we now have the opportunity to truly change the future of Kentucky by cementing the health reforms created by the Governor in a way that has a lasting and stable impact.”

STAFF REPORT