PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Gov. Paul Patton, in his annual address to eastern Kentucky leaders, said the region has made tremendous strides over the past decade to overcome economic problems.

        Most of the improvements have come because people from throughout the mountains have finally begun working together, he said, despite county lines that in the past have been boundaries political leaders rarely crossed.

Patton

        “Too often we were going in the exact opposite direction,” Mr. Patton told about 300 people Friday evening at the East Kentucky Leadership Conference in Prestonsburg.

        The annual event brings political and business leaders together from across the state's Appalachian region to discuss issues as varied as environmental disasters and election fraud, and to brainstorm for solutions.

        “It helps to dispel the old provincial posture that each county stands by itself,” said Ewell Balltrip, executive director of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission.

        Mr. Patton said the opportunity for eastern Kentucky leaders to get together and brainstorm helps the entire state.

        “The only way that Kentucky can reach its potential is for every region of the state, particularly eastern Kentucky, to reach their potential,” he said.

        Perhaps no other initiative has been as beneficial as appropriating coal severance tax revenues for economic development, said state Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook. Mr. Adkins said millions of dollars have been returned to the region to fund regional industrial parks that have added thousands of jobs.

        One of the latest victories came last month when Cingular Wireless of Atlanta announced it would open a call center, creating 900 jobs in one of the industrial parks near Ashland.

        “Those industrial parks really give us the ability to compete with any other place in the country, any other place in the world,” he said.

        The region has made major strides in improving its economy by recruiting new industries, Mr. Patton said. The governor said those companies become so enamored with the work force that they provide testimonials that draw other potential business recruits.

        Meanwhile, the region also continued to improve health care over the past decade, with the opening of a medical school in Pikeville and heart centers in Ashland, Pikeville and London that provide open-heart surgeries.

        “More than anything else, we're making progress in education,” Mr. Patton said.

        The region has seen a turnaround in the quality of its school buildings. There are as many computers in classrooms in eastern Kentucky as any other part of the state.

        The state's 176 districts average 5.8 students per computer — surpassing the 6-1 ratio the Kentucky legislature set when it embarked on education reform a decade ago. Elliott County, a rural district in eastern Kentucky, has the state's best ratio, 4-1.

        The state provided districts $15 million for computers and related expenses in 2001 under the Kentucky Education Technology System initiative, most of which was matched by local funds. In 2002, it is expected to be $20 million.

        “When you start looking at it over a 10-year period, it's pretty impressive,” Mr. Patton said.

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