08-19-2014 EDC Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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• h-S eed Broadband Is g p For rural areas,faster Internet service is a necessity.More communities is not difficult for Dave Johnson to own broadband provider.So the county remember the bad old days.They owns Lake Connections,which is designer Y a couple were only e of months back to operate as a self-sustaining business. P P He's the strategic accounts manager In the next couple of years,Lake Conne for Granite Gear,a 28-year-old Two Harbors tions will connect most of the county and company that designs,makes and distributes part of neighboring St.Louis County with packs,bags and other sewn goods for the download speeds of at least 10 megabits p camping,travel and government markets. second and upload speeds of 6 megabits, Until recently,"essentially everyone in our which the state of Minnesota considers facility was sharing a DSL line,"Johnson says. high-speed broadband.Speeds of up to 10 But modern business is more than shoot- megabits also will be available for those wi ing emals back and forth.Granite Gear ing to pay for it needs to upload video content and distribute Lake County isn't alone.Other rural large image files,as well as update its website. Minnesota communities and regions, Speeds were so glacial,however,that Johnson including neighboring Cook County,have recalls the company's art director coming in been unable to interest private provid- to work at night"so that he could have all of ers in laying the fiber needed to crank up the bandwidth to himself" broadband speeds.So they've set up their That all changed in mid-May,when Gran- own entities to do so."No one was willing ite Gear became one of the first businesses to step up to provide this level of service in to be hooked up to Lake Connections.The those areas,so Lake County stepped up to company's art director suddenly could upload the plate;'Lake County administrator Mat a 100-megabyte art file in less than four min- Huddleston says. utes.Previously,it would have taken hours. For northern Minnesota,high-speed To a resident of the Twin Cities metro,this broadband is no longer a nice-to-have."It kind of Internet speed must sound like the really is an economic development tool cyber equivalent of a horse and buggy.But to attract new businesses to the-area,and it's not unusual in large parts of Minnesota. to retain the existing businesses that we Though the state instituted a broadband have here,"Huddleston adds."We look standard in 2010,for many rural areas in the at technology becoming more and more northland,connectivity is still a drag. important to businesses in our area—and Now,though,in and around Two everywhere for that matter.Access to high- Harbors,Lake Connections is bringing local speed connectivity is really a standard now business into the 21st century—and giving the new normal.If we don't have it,we it the ability to reach far beyond the north- aren't able to compete for those businesses. land.In order to grow and prosper,more Lake Connections got rolling when it and more companies here need that reach. tapped federal stimulus money available Lake Connections isn't a traditional during the Great Recession.Still,it has been telecommunications or cable company a slog.Long winters and rough terrain have Lake County,where Two Harbors is located slowed progress and added to the$66 millio and Lake Connections operates,set up its cost initially projected to put in the system. Attaching lines to poles NORTHLAND STILLIAGSO!VLBROADBAND became difficult when some About 75:percentofMinnesota households have-access to' pole owners resisted.In t`iigh speeii.broadband But severat counties in northeast November,Lake Coun 51ec Minnesota fall below thatstatewideaverage `_ �r �" Portion of Households ' a complaint at the Federal tx � � Households - with High Communications Commis- 57 - with Internet Speed Broad Si --Wg 7 1.; on about Frontier Commu o yNortheast Counties .Ac cess band Access nications over a disagreemen on the pole attachment Cook County 92.2% 21.0% hierarchy. /°t C Itasca County 99.5 4.7 6 % Still,Lake Connections Koochiching County' + 98.6% 74.0% ' has been plugging along. at Lake County 98.9% - 53.9% And other parts of the state o St.Lows County �o might soon be able to join -__.Lo 99 9° 60.6% Lake County.In May,the