Bringing high-speed broadband Internet access to rural areas in Northwest Minnesota will be the central topic of a community forum on Wednesday, October 27, from 6 to 8 p.m., in Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota, Crookston. All broadband stakeholders are encouraged to attend, including business owners, elected officials, service providers, and residents.
The meeting will be hosted by IMPACT 20/20, a group of Northwest Minnesota leaders representing diverse interests and working together for the region's economic success and its rural broadband initiative mission. These leaders agree that high-speed broadband is one of the most important components of the rural economy, now and into the future.
A similar community forum is scheduled for Thursday, October 28, from noon to 2 p.m. at North Point Lodge in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
The broadband initiative was adopted in response to the findings of a Regional Competitiveness Assessment that was prepared for the IMPACT 20/20 Core Team. IMPACT 20/20 has established two goals for this initiative: 1. All communities in the region with 500 residents or more will have business-grade broadband access of speeds greater than 20/10 (20 Mb download and 10 Mb upload) within five years. 2. All residents of the region will have access to broadband speeds of 10/5 (10Mb download and 5 Mb upload) within the same time period.
Learn more at www.impact2020.org/broadband.html.
IMPACT 20/20 is a group of senior executives and elected officials who came together in the fall of 2008 to explore the possibility of developing a collective action plan for the economy of Northwest Minnesota. Participants included seven of the region's top business people, three heads of higher education, two tribal chairs, two officers of utility cooperatives, two presidents of healthcare institutions, two directors of economic development commissions, two directors of workforce development organizations, one school superintendent, one director of a K-12 service cooperative, one president of a foundation, and one state commissioner.
The meeting will be hosted by IMPACT 20/20, a group of Northwest Minnesota leaders representing diverse interests and working together for the region's economic success and its rural broadband initiative mission. These leaders agree that high-speed broadband is one of the most important components of the rural economy, now and into the future.
A similar community forum is scheduled for Thursday, October 28, from noon to 2 p.m. at North Point Lodge in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
The broadband initiative was adopted in response to the findings of a Regional Competitiveness Assessment that was prepared for the IMPACT 20/20 Core Team. IMPACT 20/20 has established two goals for this initiative: 1. All communities in the region with 500 residents or more will have business-grade broadband access of speeds greater than 20/10 (20 Mb download and 10 Mb upload) within five years. 2. All residents of the region will have access to broadband speeds of 10/5 (10Mb download and 5 Mb upload) within the same time period.
Learn more at www.impact2020.org/broadband.html.
IMPACT 20/20 is a group of senior executives and elected officials who came together in the fall of 2008 to explore the possibility of developing a collective action plan for the economy of Northwest Minnesota. Participants included seven of the region's top business people, three heads of higher education, two tribal chairs, two officers of utility cooperatives, two presidents of healthcare institutions, two directors of economic development commissions, two directors of workforce development organizations, one school superintendent, one director of a K-12 service cooperative, one president of a foundation, and one state commissioner.
Contact: Jack Geller, professor and department head, Liberal Arts and Education Department, and member of the Governor’s Taskforce on High-Speed Broadband, 218-281-8248 (gelle045@umn.edu); Andrew Svec, director of communications, 218-281-8438 (asvec@umn.edu)
