The Post Bulletin recently ran an article on telecommuting in the area. Olmsted County employs about 140 telecommuters. The County provides the computer and the phone line; the worker provides the desk and the broadband.

They started with a pilot project in 1996. The County finds that often telecommuters are more productive than their in-office counterparts. They have fewer sick days and far less turnover.

The employees prefer it too. Fewer than half a dozen county employees who tried telecommuting have returned to a regular office job.