Tag: "jobs"

West Plains Builds Network to Preserve Jobs - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 244

Posted March 14, 2017 by christopher

West Plains is one of the many population centers of rural regions that have been left behind by big cable and telephone companies. Located in the scenic Ozarks of southern Missouri, they are taking their digital future into their own hands with a modest fiber-optic investment.

City Administrator Tom Stehn strolls by our podcast this week to discuss what they are doing and why with a municipal fiber network that will connect anchor institutions and local businesses with high-quality Internet access.

We discuss the need, how they are financing it, and why the state legislature should not enact new barriers to local solutions. The community has already been placing conduit as part of a larger undergrounding effort, which will help them to expand the network over time.

Read the transcript of the show here.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

This show is 17 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed.

You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.

Thanks to Break the Bans for the music. The song is Escape and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Rural Co-op Fiber Draws New Business, Bolsters Established Firms In MN

Posted January 23, 2017 by lgonzalez

High-quality connectivity from the local cooperative is attracting economic development to rural Minnesota. Consolidated Telecommunications Company (CTC), began developing a fiber-optic network in the Brainerd area in the early 2000s; as the cooperative has expanded the network, businesses are getting fast, affordable, reliable connectivity.

Connected Satellites

A recent Brainerd Dispatch article highlighted several businesses that credit the local workforce and the network for their decision to build satellite offices in the Brainerd area. In addition to “battle-tested sales people who can establish relationships with customers and can ‘close the deal,’” GovMint.com’s Director of Sales Jim Martin told the Dispatch:

Equally important is the area's fiber optic network, a high-speed Internet connection that allows the sales staff to access the company's giant customer and product database, and efficiently complete online sales forms.

…

Martin said the company relies on its computer system for call routing, customer information, online orders and sales leads that come through the Internet. GovMint.com's sales staff makes 150-300 customer calls a day.

"The system has to be reliable or Jim's phone starts ringing," Martin said. "The service we have in Crosslake is very fast and very reliable."

The company sells rare and unique coins and has headquarters in Burnsville, Minnesota; the satellite office employs 25 people. The company has doubled revenue over the past five years and needed to expand so established the office in Crosslake, near Brainerd and on the CTC network.

Great For The State

The Minnesota Department of Human Services chose Brainerd for its service center in part because they needed access to a network that could handle its technology demands. Applications are processed digitally with high bandwidth applications that require access to large state databases. Fiber-optic technology is the obvious choice to handle the work efficiently. There are 160 employees now working in... Read more

Brazos Valley Healthcare High-Speed Plans Take Shape

Posted December 21, 2016 by lgonzalez

Plans for a fiber-optic middle mile network to serve the Brazos Valley in Texas are firming up and the project should be up and running within two years, reports KBTX from Bryan and College Station. The network will also have a fixed wireless complement.

Healthcare First

The $22 million network backbone, funded through the FCC’s Healthcare Connect Fund and the Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG), will first connect healthcare providers such as hospitals, schools nurses, and jail clinics.

According to the April 2015 Network Plan from the Brazos Valley Council of Governments, 62 percent of the population in the proposed service area live in rural areas with poor access to quality healthcare. Twenty percent of residents in the region are 60 years of age or older. Texas A&M School of Public Health, one of the partners in the project, completed a study that indicated high percentages of chronic conditions in residents in the region. In 8 of 12 of those measures, the results were worse than the national average. In some cases, the rates were twice as high as national averages.

Local leaders plan to next add libraries, workforce centers, schools, and a number of other local government facilities. "If our schools are spending a disproportionate amount of their funds on just providing the minimum of internet, that's not right. We can fix that," said Michael Parks, Executive Director of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments.

Jobs Ahead

The BVCOG wants to take advantage of the economic development possibilities by connecting local businesses in the future. They estimate the network will help create approximately 600 new positions in small business and 1,100 new jobs in total. Local business owners are already looking forward to better connectivity, especially the anticipated 1 Gigabit (1,000 Megabits per second) upload critical for sending data heavy files. "It helps to send big pay loads of data upstream. That has always been a challenge, so to go 'gig' is going to be much more efficient," said Bronius Morekaitius, who owns a local... Read more

Open Access Muni On The Way In Campbell River, B.C.

Posted August 24, 2016 by lgonzalez

Located on the southern end of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island sits the coastal city of Campbell River. The community recently received a $50,000 grant from the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) to pursue better connectivity through a municipal open access network initiative.

Retain and Attract

The “Salmon Capital of the World” is also home to other industries that increasingly need access to fast, affordable, reliable connectivity. Approximately 31,000 people live in Campbell River. The island’s forestry and mining companies need to have the ability to transfer large data files, such as 3D renderings, detailed maps, and similar geographic files, to business associates. In addition to making the current situation better for existing industries, community leaders want to attract new industries. From a July Campbell River Mirror article:

“We need to retain our existing businesses and enable them to grow in place,” [Economic Development Officer Rose] Klukas said in a release. “We are also looking to attract and support technology and creative sector entrepreneurs – designers, programmers, software engineers, and more – and competitively priced, high-speed broadband is a must-have.”

The ICET grant will fund the completion of a fiber-optic ring that's owned by the city and currently used only for municipal operations. The city will expand the ring and allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to offer services to local businesses via the fiber-optic infrastructure.

The First Of Its Kind

This project will be the first open access municipal network on Vancouver Island. In addition to the more immediate need of better connectivity for Campbell River, ICET hopes to determine if this same model can be duplicated elsewhere on the island.

South Bay Workforce Investment Board Accepting Master Plan RFP Submissions

Posted May 31, 2016 by lgonzalez

The South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) is now accepting submissions from firms interested in developing a Fiber Optic Master Plan for the organization. Interested organizations need to act quickly, however, as the submission deadline is tomorrow, June 1st, 2016, 5:00 p.m. (PST).

For details on the project budget, the scope of the work, timeline, and other important information, check out the Request for Proposals (RFP) from the SBWIB.

You can also contact Chris Cagle, Regional Affairs Manager, via email at ccagle(at)sbwib.org with questions.

The SBWIB is a non-profit organization working to provide employment and training programs through its four business and career centers. The organization serves the California communities of Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Lomita and Torrance.

Nevada Electric Coop Gets Fiber, Creates Jobs

Posted March 7, 2016 by htrostle

A growing number of electric coops are providing Internet access to residents and businesses in areas of the country where big providers don't offer services. It’s not a big leap because many electric coops already use fiber for communication between electric substations. Expanding in order to offer high quality Internet access is a logical next step.

In Nevada, the Valley Electric Association (VEA) is bringing Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) to members in 2016 and helping create new jobs in Pahrump and Fish Lake Valley. The coop's subsidiary Valley Communications Association (VCA), will operate the network.

Details on speeds and rates are yet to be determined, but the coop plans to offer Internet access up to 1 gigabit.

Community Job Creators

Currently, VEA employs 107 full-time staff and has 31 new job openings; they intend to add a total of 38 positions over the next year. The subsidiary VCA employs 10 full time and contract employees and anticipates adding another 50 employees by the end of 2016.

Municipal networks draw in new businesses and bring new life to communities. For instance, the network in Chanute, Kansas, helped draw in a new manufacturing facility with 150 jobs from Spirit AeroSystems in 2012. And in Thomasville, Georgia, the municipal network revitalized the downtown bringing more than 200 jobs to Main Street. With the addition of high-speed Internet access, this community in Nevada is well positioned for economic development.

From Small Coop to Big Dreams

In 1965, the VEA started off as a small rural coop, but now it has expanded to serve over 45,000 people across 6,800 square-miles of service area. Tom Husted, VEA's CEO, expressed his expectations for the new fiber network:

“It’s going to add jobs, enhance communications and revolutionize Internet service in our territory.”

No Longer Just a Luxury: Tennessee Communities Need Broadband Access Now

Posted January 7, 2016 by ternste

Sandi Wallis, a resident of northern Bradley County in Tennessee, doesn’t simply want to have ultra-fast, reliable broadband access for the fun of it. She needs it to run her home business. Her school-age children need it too:

“I've had to send my kids into town to do their homework. We’ve had to go into town with our business laptops to download updates to our programs for our accounting business because we can’t do it at home. We need service — not just reliable service and not just for entertainment.”

Wallis made the comments at a recent meeting hosted by the Bradley County Chamber of Commerce in Tennessee. The meeting focused on a persistent problem in many parts of Bradley County - residents and businesses lack the fast, affordable, reliable, broadband access that is available via Chattanooga’s EPB fiber network in neighboring Hamilton County. The deficiency is taking its toll.

Cleveland, a city of about 43,000 in Bradley County, has explored the idea of building their own community broadband network. But business leaders, government officials, and residents across Bradley County and the State of Tennessee are all anxiously awaiting the results of the ongoing legal struggle over the state’s anti-muni law. In addition, a bill set for consideration at the next state legislative session would, if passed, allow municipalities like Chattanooga to expand their existing fiber broadband services to adjacent communities in Bradley County.

Don’t Mind the Gaps

Alan Hill, a representative from AT&T, suggested that rather than focusing on the broadband service gaps in the state, Bradley County should acknowledge AT&T’s positive contributions in the area:

“Instead of talking about the gaps, we need to celebrate what all has happened here... Read more

We're Hiring! Internet Policy Research Associate / Writer / Journalist

Posted September 22, 2015 by rebecca

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is seeking a Research Associate for our Community Broadband Networks Initiative. This is a full-time position based in our Minneapolis office.

Our goal is for every community to have universal, fast, affordable, and reliable Internet access as part of our work to build strong economies and a high quality of life for everyone.

The Research Associate will carry out investigations, research, and writing assignments ranging from op-eds to short articles to longer reports.

Salary Range: $30,000-45,000 (depending on qualifications) + competitive health benefits package.

Primary Responsibilities:

Write compelling articles, fact sheets, reports, and policy briefs.
Conduct research and produce qualitative and quantitative analysis on a range of issues related to the Initiative's goal.
Editing and providing feedback for colleagues.

Key Qualifications & Skills:

Excellent written communications skills, including the ability to convey complex ideas in a clear and compelling way.
Exceptional research skills: ability to identify the pivotal questions, sharp analysis of the issues.
Knowledge of the political and legislative process.
Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at the same time
Computer and web savvy.
2+ years of experience in social change, policy, or journalism fields OR 1+ years of experience combined with a relevant advanced degree.
Enthusiasm for creating a more just world.

Please send a cover letter, résumé, and two writing samples reflecting your original work to christopher@ilsr.org. The subject line should read "Research Associate Application." No phone calls, please.

Kentucky City Transfers Ownership of Network, Still Under Local Control

Posted July 17, 2015 by htrostle

The city of Franklin, KY transferred ownership of its fiber optic network to the Franklin Electric Plant Board (EPB) for $2.5 million. The Franklin City Commission unanimously approved a resolution for the transfer of ownership at the June 8th meeting. The network, although no longer maintained by the city, is still under local control. The EPB is an extension of city government, but has its own board of directors. Pleased with the city’s decision, Mayor Ronnie Clark stated:

"Broadband is now the new utility, and who better to deliver those services than the local infrastructure experts, EPB. They have the manpower and the equipment, as well as the community's confidence in providing reliable utility service and exceptional local customer support."

The city developed the 32-mile fiber optic network to encourage economic development by providing broadband to local businesses. The network attracted to new businesses including a distribution center from Tractor Supply Company. Currently, the network supports Internet connectivity to more than 40 business and industry customers in Franklin. The EPB hopes to continue to expand the services:

"This network will be an excellent fit for us operationally, and will enable us to expand our role in serving our customers with the most robust broadband services available. We have big plans to add new services and grow our broadband customer base," said General Manager of EPB Bill Borders.

In this $2.5 million deal with EPB, the city will recoup the $2.5 million cost of constructing the network. Originally, the city funded $1.5 million with bonds and received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. The sale of the network to the EPB will pay off a $1.3 million bond issued... Read more

Introducing Our Economic Development Page

Posted July 15, 2015 by phineas

Access to high-speed, broadband Internet facilitates economic development. Over the years, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance has documented economic successes brought about by community broadband networks. We chose some of the most compelling examples, organized them by topic, and put them in one place for easy reference.

Unfortunately, in some communities, a lack of broadband Internet continues to stunt economic growth - and has even forced businesses to relocate or shut down. In many cases, incumbent Internet service providers like AT&T and CenturyLink are not willing to provide business customers or local residents with next-generation fiber networks.

To boost economic development, local communities create their own fiber networks. Municipal fiber networks typically provide faster, more reliable, more affordable Internet access than incumbent networks because municipalities have a vested interest in seeing their community succeed.

Stories and examples of economic development resulting both directly and indirectly from community broadband networks abound, but until now these anecdotes and statistics were not consolidated into one place.

In our economic development page, the benefits of municipal networks are separated into various categories - ranging from job creation to advances in healthcare - with concrete examples from community broadband networks across the country. Take a look.

community broadband networks

Left Navigation Lower