11-19-2013 EDC Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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BUILDING A Resilient Region Dear Municipality: We need your help to identify the broadband infrastructure assets and needs for the five- county area of Cass,Crow Wing, Morrison,Todd,and Wadena counties. This has come from the work of more than 600 individuals who help develop a five-county plan. It is called the Resilient Region project and more information about this may be found at www.resilientregion.org We have learned that some of you may struggle with sufficient bandwidth to fully utilize some of the tools available that allow for efficiency in government: Issue: Our rural region has limited access to high speed internet. The so-called "digital divide" is evidenced throughout our region,with some locations serving virtually unlimited access to the internet,while in other areas there is little or no access available. This limited,inconsistent connectivity negatively impacts Health Care Delivery(tele-health), Business (tele-work)and Educational(online learning)opportunities. Our group is not alone in recognizing the importance of the virtual highway system.Some communities in Minnesota lacking broadband have attempted to build their own municipally-owned systems, but to date these projects have frequently failed due to incomplete business models,which often don't take into account the true cost of maintenance and service,and/or may have overly optimistic revenue projections. The state of Minnesota is also aware of the importance of broadband as a 21st century infrastructure need, having set a goal of universal broadband throughout the state,and mandated a broadband task force study and report how this may best be achieved.At the most recent task force meeting August 13, 2013,the need for hard data from projects within the state to show the costs and benefits of broadband was expressed. In addition,the Minnesota bill HF 997/SF 1061 was introduced mandating the development of a viable business model for the state's ARMER communications system. We,the Resilient Region Champions(see attached list), have a unique opportunity to help local,state and federal partners understand the issues and are trying to put together a number of funding streams to address access issues in the region. For example,we have met with Commissioners of Housing,Transportation, Employment and Economic Development,worked with Representative John Ward,and, in Mid-November, Matt Schmidt and others are planning to visit our region.They want to learn about the exciting work in the region where there is unlimited access as well as about the major barriers to preparing our youth to work and complete in the global market place.So we need your careful,thoughtful assessment of assets and needs ASAP to prepare for that meeting.We will make sure that you are notified of this event,in case you or a representative from your school district wants to attend. NJPA has graciously agreed to help us disseminate and compile the results. For this reason this request is coming from their system.Thank you for your assistance.We truly appreciate it. Sincerely, Dr.Stacey Stockdill,Volunteer Virtual Highway Project Director