Jim Hoolihan and Senator Klobuchar talk broadband at the Blandin Foundation

It’s been a whirlwind around Blandin since the announcement of the ARRA grant last week. While some of the staff has been out meeting partners who will work on the ARRA-funded Minnesota Internet Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative (more on that soon), others were able to greet Senator Amy Klobuchar and talk about the project with her in greater detail.

Yesterday, Senator Klobuchar visited the staff at Blandin. President Jim Hoolihan spoke about the project,  “The grant is not going to be used for laying cable or fiber but the grant is going to be used to work with partners for increasing demand for broadband. Blandin is very excited to receive the grant.” While Senator Klobuchar recognized the need for such a project, “We went from third in the developed world, to fifteenth in just the last decade when it came to internet subscribership and internet speed. That just can’t keep going that way.”

We were pleased to have a number of local media at the event and happy to see articles in Northland’s Newscenter and Fox 21 News.

 http://blandinonbroadband.org/2010/03/25/rural-minnesota-awarded-arra-broadband-funding/

 http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/89550262.html

 http://www.fox21online.com/news/senator-klobuchar-visits-northern-minnesota