Michael Haynes, economic developer in Stevens County in western Minnesota, and I were talking about the success of their Get Broadband program in and around Morris. Michael noted the positive impact of the program on the business community. Of special note is the work of Minnesota Technology Inc. and their training and advice for some of the larger area businesses.

MTI was able to help these companies improve their strategies for being found by search engines so that they are receiving many more hits than previously. That gives them an opportunity to win business that they would not have even known about previously.

Smaller businesses, like the local florist and one of the area restaurants, took advantage of the grants offered through the Get Broadband program so that they now have web sites that offer looks at their offerings, including flower arrangements and lunch menus. The Stevens County effort also assisted government and non-profits improve their technology. The Morris HRA now has housing information online, the fitness center displays their class schedule so that community members can plan their exercise routine (another excuse to go exercise disappears!) and the chamber of commerce can easily update their own web site and keep it current.

Comparing before and after benchmarking surveys, residential broadband use went from 29% to 50%! Among dial-up users, the percentage that had not tried broadband went down from 44% to 18%. These are great results that demonstrate the value of community-driven broadband market development activities.