On Thursday, August 17, US Representative Hal Rogers met with community members and leaders in Whitley and Knox Counties. Rogers was the keynote speaker for a joint meeting of the Southern Kentucky and Knox County Chambers of Commerce at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center. He presented an update about on-going work in Washington D.C. and Kentucky Fifth Congressional District, including new grant funding opportunities to reclaim abandoned mine lands and repurpose them for economic development projects, the SOAR initiative, and the KentuckyWired project that will connect every county in the state to high-speed, high-capacity broadband. Rogers said the advent of KentuckyWired will allow countless companies to expand operations, giving more people the opportunity to stay in Eastern Kentucky to work and raise their families.