Monthly Archives: April 2012

Social media building a buzz in Minneapolis as the fat lady sings

Posted on by
Reply

I just have to mention this fun story on a Sunday because it highlights for me one of the big opportunities for social media — social media rewards creativity.

Last night the Minnesota Opera Twitter account was hijacked by their “hipster usher” who Tweeted throughout the opera (Madame Butterfly) describing the action on stage and doling out great advice such as…

Yo grl: warning sign! Back back back it up! “my heart’s on fire for her, I must possess her even if her wings are torn and broken”

Or

NTS: When you go to visit your abandoned wife, don’t bring your new one along for the ride. #awkwardencounters

Now there’s a lot of talk in the Twitter/Blogosphere about whether the experiment was a great success or a great failure – but as someone who follows online marketing, I have to point out that I’ve never talked about opera on this blog before. It’s getting people’s attention – and that’s the first step. I’d love to see other Minnesota arts groups (and/or communities) would take note. It would be great to see Grandpa Joe live Tweeting for the Minneapolis Groundbreakers Battle (of Break Dancers) this summer!

Free Cyber Security Confernece at UMN April 19

Posted on by
Reply

I thought folks might be interested…

Focus on Cyber Security

Thursday, April 19, 2012
3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
University of Minnesota
TCF Bank Stadium, Indoor Club Room
420 SE 23rd Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Join the Department of Homeland Security and the University of Minnesota for one or all of three sessions on Cyber Security awareness, career opportunities, and issues. For a detailed agenda, click here.
3:00 p.m. Cyber Security Awareness Session
4:30 p.m. Cyber Careers Session
6:00 p.m. Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Roundtable
There is no charge to attend the sessions, but your response is required. Click here to RSVP. Please RSVP by Monday, April 16.

MHTA Spring Conference – April 25

Posted on by
Reply

I thought folks might be interested in the MHTA Spring Conference lineup. The event is April 25 at the Minneapolis Convention Center…

Speakers
Governor Mark Dayton
Rick King – Thomson Reuters COO for Technology
Peter High – Author World Class IT & Founder of Metis Strategy

Full Conference Agenda
Breakout sessions will cover the latest trends, breakthroughs and ethical challenges facing Minnesota technology professionals.

Business Bridge Breakfast
Minnesota’s Business Bridge is an innovative way to connect small and growing companies to larger regional corporate customers.

Exhibit Floor
This year’s conference includes an expanded exhibit hall featuring more than 100 technology businesses and organizations.

IT Listening Session
A Workforce Assessment team will engage employers in developing projections for how many workers and professionals, with what kinds of skills, will be needed in our area.

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband: April 17 in Eagan

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s the latest on the next Governor’s Task Force on Broadband meeting – with a couple of logistics: They are using the Visitor Entrance which is located off of Towerview Road—follow the signs to the visitors parking lot. Attendees will need to bring a photo ID, which you will be asked to show to enter the building.

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
Unisys, 3199 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan, MN 55121
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

10:00-10:15 Greetings and introductions, approve meeting minutes

10:15-10:30 Welcome/explanation by host site/description of broadband happenings in area

Welcome by Dan Browning, Unisys

10:30-11:15 Public comments/description of broadband happenings in area

1. Dakota Future Intelligent Community Initiative – Bill Coleman

2. Dakota County C-Net – Anita Scott, Dakota County Director of IT

3. Eagan Data Center: The Connexion – Tom Garrison

11:15-12:00 Subgroup reports to full task force and feedback

Coordination Across Government Levels (Leader: Danna MacKenzie)
Best Practices/Incentives (Leader: Dick Sjoberg)
State of Broadband (Leader: Matt Grose)

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 Presentations

ROW Management, Dig Once
Butch McConnell, Dakota County
Russ Matthys, City Engineer, City of Eagan
Paul Zyla, Agstar

1:00-1:45 Subgroup reports to full task force and feedback

Broadband Adoption (Leader: Shirley Walz)
Monitor/Understand Impact of FCC & PUC Decisions; Cost of Broadband (Leader: Gary Evans)
Locations (Leader: Bernadine Joselyn)

1:45-2:15 Public comments

2:15-2:25 Other business/Upcoming meetings

2:25-2:30 Closing comments/Adjourn meeting

Optional Tour: Following the Task Force meeting, there will be an optional 30 minute tour of the Unisys Data Center. If you are interested in attending, there will be a sign-up during the lunch break.

TISP Forum – Making the Connexion aka Public/Private Partnership to improve Minnesota Connectivity

Posted on by
Reply

I had the pleasure of attending the TISP forum on the Eagan data center. It was an interesting discussion on the potential economic impact of data centers. I think it was Commissioner Phillips who commented that while the data centers themselves might not drive a lot of jobs that the infrastructure (especially broadband – fast, reliable, secure) required to support a data center made an area more attractive to other businesses that often do bring more jobs. Minnesota is a natural fit for data centers with our cool temperature, affordable energy and new legislation that support data centers.

It was also fun to hear from Tom Garrison from the City of Eagan. Tom was on the original Minnesota Broadband Task Force and he really spoke about how that position fit so well with Eagan’s plan and perhaps pushed them forward. The Task Force recommendations turned into the broadband bill that was signed in 2010 – and is now calling for ubiquitous better broadband by 2015. Tom spoke about the recommendations less traveled in the report – striving for security, redundancy, collaboration. These have been the cornerstone of the work done for the data center in Eagan. Very nice to hear the recommendation getting deployed – he success of the project speaks to the recommendations being a potential roadmap for cities, counties and the state. (And indeed, the current Task Force is using the original report to flesh out a roadmap for the state.)

I tried to take pretty good notes as folks spoke – and Tom was kind enough to send me his presentation to share – although I want to note that images from the PPT may not be reproduced without permission of Five 9s Digital.

Making the Connexion aka Public/Private Partnership to improve Minnesota Connectivity

Cities are looking to land data storage building centers and we’re excited to hear how they have been working.

Commissioner Mark Phillips – Comments on data center legislation that passed last year.

Soon into his tenure, he ran into an article that listed Minnesota as incompatible in terms of data center site selection. That didn’t make sense, energy was not comparatively expensive here, plenty of cold, lots of room. The Chamber of Commerce started pushing the data center agenda. It was a little clandestine because it hadn’t been part of Dayton’s agenda. We had a few bills – but they didn’t get out of committee. There wasn’t a party split – but everyone had their issue.

As a State we had to decide where we wanted to focus our attention. We didn’t need to write big checks due to other attractive characteristics – but we needed some money. We had lost to Google and Apple in the previous months. Cloud computing is a window right now – but growth will plateau. Fast forward and the State shuts down. It’s all after hours discussions. Commissioner of Revenue said wnow might be a good time to bring the bill forward – Senator Ortman helped bring the bill to the table.

We got a lot, but we didn’t get everything requested. Data centers flip out equipment every 4-5 years. We got 20 year exemptions on equipment, cooling, energy and software but not building materials. Minimum requirements are 30,000 square feet and at least $50 million in first two years.

Maybe not the perfect way to get legislation passed – but we got it done. The bill was heard.

It’s important because data center will drive infrastructure and growth in other areas. Infrastructure always supports greater growth. “Broadband is becoming as important as sewer and water.”

Questions:

Is anything happening with this legislation this year?

Not that we’re aware of. It’s tough when there’s no budget.

It would be nice to stretch advantages to multiuser centers. Although at the time there were some big deals hanging in the balance.

How many of these deals are happening around the country?

Many – warmer climate states are putting money on the table. Colder climate might not need to try so hard to level the playing field.

Tom Garrison –

Going back to the Task Force – the recommendations are really only as good as the power to deployment.

While the Task Force report has had legs – there are a few key ingredients that did not capture the public’s attention the way we should:

How do we reduce vulnerability?
How do we increase security?
How do we work together?
How do we increase redundancy?

In Eagan, we’ve tried to host the conversation to get questions addressed.

Eagan has been mapping their fiber connectivity. It helps the city assess their actual infrastructure and define/prove needs.

Eagan is deploying open source city fiber and duct to Eagan businesses. We are looking for providers to use the infrastructure to serve area businesses. We are getting RFPs for second phase of the project. We’re building 16.72 miles of fiber.

XO Communication is working on the first phase of fiber. One difficulty has been creating an alternate route to existing fiber – to improve redundancy.

If we had been waiting for the Task Force recommendations to come to fruition – we’d still be waiting. We decided to move ourselves forward. We’ve found that public-private partnership has worked well.

Crowded Right of Way! Crowded Right of Way has been a problem. There is no more room in certain major conduit through ways. Open source plans would help reduce crowding.

QUESTIONS

What if it weren’t carrier neutral?

Then it would be difficult to use public dollars – because you might be choosing winners and losers. We need a few more data centers.

From Rick King:
There’s a need for a second connection point for the state. The public-private partnership is under-exploited and this is a nice example of when is works. We need to do more – the beneficial nature is good for both sectors. Carrier neutral is also very valuable. It would be nice to see more data centers – there is discussion about reducing requirements for new data centers to take advantage new legislation. As a company we’ve made no commitment to use the data center. We might in the future – but we just want to help the city make improvements.

The broad discussion in the Task Force Report really gave birth to the idea of a project like this.

In Eagan we put together a tech task force – and that has helped us hugely. We get the local businesses to lend the city their CIOs. It’s been a good way to open communication to collaboration, which can be akin to dig once.

Public-Private-Partnership

What’s the key element here? In case of legislation – it was entrepreneurial spirit. But how do we move from accidental good thing to public-private partnership being the regular (and good) way?

Phillips:
In workforce development, Pawlenty issued an All Hands on Deck. We liked it and re re-instituted it. Maybe the same will happen with the Broadband Task Force.

Dep of Commerce:
The Task Force is meeting next week at Unisys. Department of Commerce is sponsoring agency for the Task Force. The most recent report builds on previous reports. There is some frustration is rebuilding some wheels. But there is still some education required. One legislator thought broadband was just for watching videos.

Tom:

Offered a personal comment on legislation that would have prohibited municipal networks. By some readings, the first iteration of the bill would have banned even government to government networks, as if in today’s world government, like industry, doesn’t need to move data quickly and efficiently. Second, banning the expansion of municipal networks that allow providers greater access to customers is contrary to the intent of the MN Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force’s unanimous recommendations in 2009.

What’s happening with the build? (To Brett Severson from Jones Lang LaSalle)

We have a lot of activity in the building right now. We have proposals out for twice as much space as we have. We don’t plan on going on spec. We need an anchor tenant. Activity is high. As soon as we land a portion of one of these phases, we’ll take off. Then we expect exponential growth.

A while back, there were about 17 entities interested date centers. Is there enough need for that?

When we did our feasibility – the TCs was said to be underserved (conservatively) by 250,000 SF of data centers.

Brian Ginkel from Jones Lang LaSalle:
We’re seeing a lot of trends. Data centers can get antiquated – especially with cloud computing. Large companies may want to build their own – but folks with Tier I or II in the past are now looking at outsourcing. They want to take data centers off campus – increase redundancy and decreased costs and maintenance.

The State is putting out an RFP for space. And day now.

Envolta is building in Duluth; they have a number of healthcare companies an anchor tenants.

This market is attractive for disaster recovery plans for folks like Chicago, Des Moines – anyplace 350 miles away. So we work with hotels et al to make access easy.

Different kinds of users:

Universities & colleges need lots of computing facilities. So they are creating consortia to take space in data centers – kind of cloud computing.

Maybe the pubic side would act as a dating service for data centers – as the state/local government folks often know about the companies that want space.

Public-Private Partnership in Ramsey County

Bill Coleman
Minnesota Fiber Exchange is another emerging data center. They will be finalizing an agreement soon with Ramsey County to do fiber. The plan is to do a data center on that fiber. It will be a multi-tenant facility in the northern Twin Cities.

Next week the Task Force will hear from Dakota Cities agreeing on one-stop-shop for right of way permission

Next time: County Round up with 12-13 counties that are doing broadband stuff.

Computers & Internet access boosts tech adoption in International Falls

Posted on by
3

PCs for People are partners in the Blandin Foundation’s Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project. They refurbish donated computers and give them to folks (usually families) who would not otherwise be able to get a computer. The project has been a great success in many communities – and the International Falls Journal reports that this successful recipe has cooked up a great deal for folks at Rainy River Community College – with an added spice.

KOOTASCA Community Action and Rainy River Community College have been spearheading the effort in International Falls – and they have worked with a local provider to bundle the new computer with 10 months of Midcontinent broadband Internet service to low-income families. Here’s a quick take on how it’s working in the community…

KOOTASCA is distributing 30 refurbished computers and 10 months of Midcontinent broadband Internet service to low-income families. The organization is encouraging any other members in the community who need computers to apply for a low-cost or free refurbished computer, which KOOTASCA may be able to obtain from “PCs for People.” KOOTASCA two weeks ago became an affiliate of PCs for People, a St. Paul-based non-profit organization that distributes refurbished computers for $30 to $50.

At the college, 10 new laptops were distributed to qualified students. Hardy is still taking applications for the 15 free Internet accounts from low-income students. Midcontinent is providing the Internet to the college and KOOTASCA at a discounted rate.

And a quick note on the impact…

“It’s making a difference in International Falls,” said Hardy, who is also the college’s director of the TRIO Student Support Services, which serves non-traditional and under represented students. “I really see it.”

An interesting side note – and a detail that folks in metro areas might not consider. The deal has been working really well when the new computer owners live in broadband range – but there is a clear cutoff for folks in International Falls that is now separating the tech haves and have-nots…

One challenge that was found during the program is that broadband access ends around County Road 332, the truck route, according to Amy Mortenson, KOOTASCA support specialist.

“That’s a barrier for people who live past the truck route — people in Littlefork, Loman, Northome and Birchdale,” she said. “So they wouldn’t be able to participate in the broadband Internet part of it, but we’re hoping to get them computers at least to break down the barrier that way.”

Bridging the Digital Divide – in St Paul April 18

Posted on by
Reply

I’m planning to attend this session and will take notes for folks – but if you’re in the area…

Event: Organizer Roundtable: Bridging the Digital Divide

As the Internet and other information technologies have transformed our lives, we now benefit from greater connectivity to educational, employment and social opportunities in the Twin Cities. Yet low income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities are often left behind. This exclusion deepens the divide between the haves and the have nots and reinforces the inequities in our region.

Join us for our next Organizer Roundtable where will we take a look at organizations who are working to bridge the digital divide. Come and learn the strategies that they are using to provide access to underserved communities in our region.

Presenters:

Corrine Brunning, E-democracy.org outreach coordinator
Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance research associate
James Nicholson, Hennepin County Library software instructor
Organizer Roundtables are free but registration is required. Feel free to bring your lunch, light refreshments provided.

When Wednesday, April 18, 2012
12:30 PM – 2 PM

Where Merriam Park Library
1831 Marshall Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55104

Exede – super fast satellite

Posted on by
Reply

Jim Boyd in Grand Marais wasn’t the first person to ask me about Exede – but he was the smartest one in that he sent me a link for more info. (Thanks Jim!) Jim is located in Cook County. He has written eloquently about the need for better broadband in the area. I’ve heard his tales of working from satellite – and they aren’t pretty. Apparently Exede is creating quite a buzz in the area with their super-fast satellite service. The question is – is it worth trying?

So I went to my panel of experts – Facebook. Although in this case, Facebook did lead me to current and past broadband provider IT directors (and friends of mine). I sent the link and simply asked – what do you think, especially for rural areas? I want to be clear in saying that these guys haven’t used the service and are only commenting on the service described in the article.

The greatest concerns were latency and data caps. A couple pointed out that this is clearly better than dialup – and perhaps better than other existing options but that latency and data caps would be major issues. One who had used satellite in the past said that once another option was made available he opted out of a 3 year contact for the new service and saved enough in overage charges in 7 month to make up for the early cancellation costs.

Wireless expansion in Duluth

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s the latest news on wireless coming to Duluth from the Duluth News Tribune…

Nextera Communications, a provider of wireless voice and data, will expand its wireless services to the Duluth area. Nextera has the largest fixed wireless business network in Minnesota, with more than 60 towers throughout the Twin Cities.

Because Nextera’s fixed wireless networks use towers rather than underground cables, there is no risk of outages due to fiber cuts, and installation is fast and unobtrusive.

Nextera’s wireless broadband WiMax service will combine fixed wireless with IP-based voice technology and offer options from 1.5 to 6 Mega bits of bandwidth with voice prioritization, while point-to-point solutions will offer speeds of up to 1 Gigabyte to Duluth-area businesses.

Nextera is a Brainerd/Baxter-based telecommunications company with offices in Duluth, Minnetonka and St. Cloud, providing customized, secure telecommunications services and local customer service to small and mid-sized businesses throughout Minnesota.

I suspect the folks north of Duluth would like to see the expansion expand even more.

Broadband and veterans

Posted on by
Reply

Last moth the SBA (Small Business Administration) released a report on Veteran-owned Businesses and their Owners – Data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. There were a couple of statistics that caught my eye:

  • About 23 percent of current veteran business owners, and 32 percent of those planning or in the process of starting a new business, indicated that their venture would be 50 percent or more internet-dependent.
  • The self-employment rate for veterans was higher than that of non-veterans in each year from 1979 through 2003, the last year covered in the study.
  • Computer use is correlated with higher self-employment rates among all veterans.

We heard from the Mayor of Morris (MN) (video below) about how they are using WiFi and public access computer in the local American Legion. He pointed out that it’s been a great way to get some of the older guys online and hoped it would be a way to attract some of the younger veterans, which are some great first steps. But it seems like the statistics above might indicate that there might be even more opportunities at a community level to encourage broadband access and adoption with veterans to help open the door to entrepreneurship.

Consolidated Telecommunications Co. (CTC) meets with Legislators

Posted on by
Reply

Just a quick update from the Brainerd Dispatch on the folks from Consolidated Telecommunications Co. (CTC) headed to Washington DC for the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association’s Legislative & Policy Conference and to speak with the offices of Minnesota Rep. Chip Cravaack and Sen. Al Franken about their concerns with recent changes and proposed changes with the FCC…

Larson and Wetzel [Kevin T. Larson, CEO/general manager, and Mike Wetzel, Consolidated Board director] urged their congressional delegates to help them continue to provide the services their community needs at an affordable rate by removing regulatory uncertainty and urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider the deep cuts and other extreme modifications it is proposing to impose on the Universal Service Fund (USF). Larson and Wetzel said cuts to this important fund could put existing investment in rural broadband at risk and discourage future investment in new broadband-capable networks by small companies, leading to increased rates for telephone, broadband and other services.

Spring fiber construction has begun in SW Minnesota

Posted on by
Reply

This early spring is bringing on more fiber construction. I just got a quick newsletter from the Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services (SMBS) with the following construction update.

  • Jackson – Our first three construction phases have been identified. We intend to have phases 1-3 completed by June, 2012. The entire City of Jackson will be completed by fall, 2012.  Southwest Minnesota Broadband informational material will be delivered to homes according to construction phasing in the coming months.
  • Brewster, Heron Lake, Lakefield, Okabena, Round Lake – installations are near completion.

Smoothing out student housing – with broadband

Posted on by
Reply

If you walk for 10 minutes in any direction from my house, you will run into a college. I like it. It means we have fun restaurants, bar and bookshops near the house. But there can be a downside – student housing. I’m not saying anything about the students here – but often student-landlord relationships can be cantankerous and that can have repercussions for a neighborhood, a school, the student’s family and landlord’s finances.

The folks at the University of Minnesota Morris have found a solution to student housing issues – that is an open and informed market for students and landlords. The Morris Rental Housing Commission received funds through the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative to develop a website that helps keep everyone informed – of their rights, the responsibilities and the local rental market. They maintain a database of licensed and available rental properties.

Executive Director of the Commission was kind enough to tell me a little bit about how the website has been received. It sounds as if both the students and landlords have appreciated the site. It sounds as if the site is helping both parties make better informed decisions. She had one story that helps put into perspective what a difference a little knowledge can make…

The one story that I think epitomizes the success of the site concerned a parent and their college student child. They were looking at several different rental properties. Most parents are a bit nervous about the fact that college students in Morris sign leases for the Fall of 2012 in January or February. They had looked at some of the properties and then found the web site which provided the inspection reports on the properties. After reviewing the inspection reports, the parent called my office and wanted to talk about them. We discussed the things that are covered in an inspection and those that are not. One of the properties had failed the inspection and had not made the corrections for many months. It was a property the college student wanted to rent but the information from the website provided the information needed to avoid a problem rental.

The fact remains that most college students (as well as other new renters) are unaware of the pitfalls that can make their lives very stressful. If we can play a small role in helping them avoid just one struggle we have accomplished something worthwhile.

It’s just one good example of how technology has made our lives a little better – assuming the students, family and landlord have the broadband, computer and skills to access the website.

FirstNet – an interoperable, public safety network. What’s the plan?

Posted on by
5

Earlier this week I attended the Broadband US TV webcast on Spectrum Provisions of Tax Relief Act — Meaning, Impacts and Timing. It was interesting and very wonky, and I mean that in a good way. (You can access the archive online.) I thought I’d focus on gleaning what I could at a high level about FirstNet from the session, maybe include a little outside research and pass on what I could about the FCC Public Safety plan – especially in terms of FirstNet. I am happy to have anyone more knowledgeable about the Public Safety telecommunications plans chime in!

In February, The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 was signed into law. It included a section that opened the door to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

Title VI – Public Safety Communications and Electromagnetic Spectrum Auctions

Sec. 6101-6703 – Spectrum Auction. This provision grants the FCC the authority to hold voluntary incentive auctions, allocates necessary spectrum for a nationwide interoperable broadband network for first responders, provides $7 billion for public safety broadband network build out, and provides up to $1.75 billion for relocation costs for broadcasters. This provision is estimated to raise $15 billion over the next eleven years.

The FirstNet plan is to build a broadband network for police, firefighters, emergency medical service professionals, and other public safety officials. FirstNet is really just getting going – but there are some plans. First plan is for FirstNet to work with state, local and tribal governments. A goal is to create an interoperable, cohesive, countrywide network. That being said, states can opt-out of FirstNet. Apparently the plan (and I’m gleaning this from the webcast) is for FirstNet to come to the states with an assessment of what the state has and what they need. And RFP will be created from these assessments.

The webcast included folks from all corners of the project (commercial, utilities, local governments (well NATAO – the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors). It was nice to hear each perspective. The need for a Public Safety Net was emphasized. I think many of us have heard the stories of different branches of first responders and/or first responders from different areas running into troubles communicating with each other because of technology. So change seemed to be welcome across the board – especially change that meant interoperability!

Sustainable was another theme. One thing that I always remember from the 700 Mhz Auctions in 2008 was that the Public Safety spectrum was the one auction that did not meet its minimum. No one wanted to build the public safety network back then. So what’s changed? I think it’s the greater opportunity for corporate carriers to ride on the network and the opportunities for commercial providers to take advantage of network sharing and roaming.

If sustainability is an issue, it makes sense to get the carriers involved. But I think it’s important to maintain an open source sort of network. One of the issues noted in the webcast was the failure of the current network is the proprietary nature of some many (or many portions) of the public safety network. Another point made by the utilities and local governments is that they have a lot of infrastructure in place already, suggesting that maybe that could help defray costs to build.

It sounds as if network will be 4G LTE. (I guess that would be more meaningful to be if there more stringent standards on what that meant.) One inherent issue they mentioned in the webcast was lack of voice capabilities on 4G LTE. However there is a budget for NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) to develop a solution and until there’s a solution, t-band spectrum (for voice) could be made available. (I should say someone asked about that – and the answer was that t-band availability would depend on NIST developments.)

So there’s movement forward. Some of the budget and spectrum are apparently still up in the air and will be based on the reverse auctions that are planned. (There is up to $7.3 billion in funding for network from future FCC incentive auctions but the NTIA can borrow $2 billion up front.) Also there’s a lot of discussion on who will be selected for the various FirstNet boards. With $7 billion dollars at stake and so many stakeholders in the game, those decisions will be critical to how FirstNet continues to move forward.

There are a couple other issues that I find intriguing – but will have to wait for another day: Text-to-911 and Commercial Mobile Alert System, which sounds like tapping into commercial cell phone carriers to broadcast “emergency broadcast system” type messages. (I think most readers will remember watching those as kids when the remote control was maybe a slow younger sibling.) I think the idea of “delivering geographically-targeted alerts to wireless consumers” could be lifesaving – but also opens the door to a lot of privacy concerns.

Fergus Falls – Telework Capital of Minnesota?

Posted on by
Reply

A couple of weeks ago I read a story in WDAY 6 that claimed that Fergus Falls is the Telework Capital of Minnesota. The article talked about Fergus Falls’ Business Development Center and broadband…

A hotel with a modern day mission aims to attract companies around the world to Lakes Country. The Business Development Center is a resource facility with unique solutions never before seen in Minnesota.

The Business Development Center has everything you might expect in a traditional business incubator…

It has office suites, work stations, even training rooms – any resources needed to be in business, all which can be rented by the day, week, or month.

But it also has the telecommunications infrastructure a business needs today…

They’ve increased internet speeds to at least 50 megabits per second.

With this in mind, I was excited to get the opportunity at the MTA Annual Convention to meet the folks who are helping to put Fergus Falls on the telework map – Dave Bickett and Tim Brinkman at Park Region/Otter Tail Telecom. They gave me a little info on the background that gave birth to the telework initiative in Fergus Falls. I’m going to try to retell it – because I think (like recently released report on nonprofit use of technology) it demonstrates that a good strategy focuses on solving an issue. Also their strategy is too good not to share.

Forward Fergus Falls is a coalition of Fergus Fall leaders, born as they say “out of participants of The Blandin Leadership group and the EIC Board.” The group goal is to create a team and a sense of common unity….

“We want the whole community involved. We want to create a think-tank that will unite the community under one common goal,” Said Doug Houska, president of the city’s Economic Improvement Commission and a member of the initial leadership group.

With that one goal, however are 13 Destiny Drivers that help put a plan in place to reach the goal. The drivers include a plan for telework…

Forward Fergus Falls Destiny Drivers
1. Create and support 100 jobs or more each year for the next five years by working with existing and new businesses.
2. Market Fergus Falls as a telecommuting-ready community.
3. Establish at least two bio-related businesses in the next five years.
4. Establish access to both local and regional Angel Venture funds.
5. Establish an Orthopedic Center of excellence.
6. Preserve and repurpose the RTC by 2014.
7. Send two additional groups of community leaders to the Blandin Leadership Training Program by 2014.
8. Become leader in community education excellence.
9. Support and expand the River Walk revival efforts.
10. Become Minnesota leader in spiritual, behavioral, and physical health.
11. Focus on identifying, promoting and increasing participation for 10 annual weekend-long signature events through arts, history, the cultural heritage of the area, etc. by 2012.
12. Promote “being green” through a series of dynamic, fun, and educational environmentally-themed events.
13. Become a leader in Community Acceptance & Inclusion.

From the destiny driver status to implementation – they began the Telework Initiative. Part of the equation is having adequate broadband. Tim and Dave told me that residents and businesses have up to 50 Mbps – more if they ask. The city also opened the Business Development Center (telework hotel), described in the article above. It opened quite recently but already serves as a home to one business and several independent workers. Finally the strategy include a lot of promotion. Promoting the idea of telework to local residents – and promoting it to business, local and outside of the area. Their website is a key place where workers and employers can find out about opportunities.

One important, aside – the folks in Fergus Falls worked with the folks at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to update their job listing websites to include opportunities for teleworkers. Prior to their discussions everything was listed by location – making it difficult for an employer to make it clear that potential employees need not be local to get hired. As a librarian, I get how important that change in cataloging is!

The initiative is fairly new – but they have the website, which includes the jobs board, the have the telework hotel, they have held several popular events to educate the workforce and industry, they have run ads and other promotions locally and they have been building partnerships. And it’s not too new for some early successes.

The WDAY 6 article features GreenSneakers…

Doug Bartels – GreenSneakers Executive Director: “That’s why we moved into this location.”

Bartels’ company is based in Wahpeton, but instead of moving there, his six employees are now working from the Business Development Center. The one of a kind office just opened.

Doug Bartels: “We needed facilities that would give us an opportunity to store and warehouse collections of tennis shoes and then a central location for all of us to work together.”

Fergus Falls is also home to Ringdahl EMS, a collaboration of four ambulance companies in Minnesota and North Dakota, Emergency Training Associates (ETA) our educational organization, and PARA-CORP an all-risk medical management contracting service. According to their website they provide…

Emergency Medical Training Associates – ETA provides a full range of emergency care educational programs and classes, customized training, and business and community safety and first aid training. We provide advanced level certification classes in ACLS, PALS, healthcare provider CPR, EMT and Paramedic. The training can be done at your site or at one of our EMS training facilities in Minnesota or North Dakota.

The services are made possible with super-fast broadband (upwards of 50 Mbps).

Fergus Falls is enjoying the lowest unemployment they’ve had since 1989. The attendance at their telework events has been great and they are getting call from other communities. It’s the final point that caught my attention. Tim mentioned that they have had calls from as far away as California from folks who want to get listed on the website. That makes me think that Fergus Falls is on to a winner destiny driver. Today telework capital of Minnesota; tomorrow, who knows?