KSTP News reports…
Shutterfly wants to build its newest office in Shakopee.
The Internet-based photo and publishing company is meeting Wednesday night with the Shakopee City Council to discuss plans to build a 217,000-square-foot office by 2014.
Shutterfly, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., says the expansion would generate an estimated 329 jobs over the next two to five years – with 201 employees hired by next year, according to the city. The average annual wage for workers would be $18.78 per hour.
Seasonal employees would add 204 more full-time equivalent positions.
I mention it because only a community with adequate broadband is going to be in the running for an opportunity like this. According to the Connect Minnesota interactive map, there are 13 broadband providers in Shakopee. (That list includes satellite and wireless providers that I suspect would not meet the needs of a business of this size – but there are 13.)
Looking at the Connect Minnesota County Profile Map, service in Shakopee (Northern top of Scott County) does meet the State definition of broadband (pink means served) – however the southern portion of the county does not (orange is underserved). It’s easy to see the places you might select to open your business based on this information. And access to broadband is one thing site selectors are using to make decisions. Something to think about if you are involved with economic development in your area.
(For folks interested in the specifics of the deal: Part of the plans includes the company is asking the city and the county to approve a nine-year property tax abatement, meaning Shutterfly wouldn’t pay those taxes during that time. There is a public heading in Shakopee about the abatement tonight (Aug 7) at 7 pm.)
Added Aug 9: Shakopee & Shutterfly move forward: http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/218929571.html
Ann, your article should stimulate some good thinking by economic developers, but I think that your premise is incorrect. Sorry! The broadband maps show residential broadband coverage. A community can meet the state broadband standard by having a single provider with either a FTTH or FTTN network.
A company like Shutterfly will be located in an industrial park. It was not so long ago that the cable companies had zero facilities in these types of locations and many commercial areas were outside of DSL reach. There were many small businesses that were facing significant installation expense to have the cable company bury facilities across already paved parking lots. I have not worked as much in suburban areas and I know that the cable companies have put a lot more emphasis on commercial sales so I suspect that they have extended facilities to many of these locations.
A company like Shutterfly is likely to want multiple providers with secure and reliable access over redundant facilities. Many tech companies may want the ability to lease dark fiber over which they can have a private network rather than purchase a bundle of services.
In this specific case in Shakopee, I suspect that there is no shortage of fiber in the ground put in place to serve companies like ADC. Obviously, Shutterfly thinks the telecom infrastructure is an asset.
I would encourage economic developers to better understand their telecommunications infrastructure. The Connect MN maps have their purpose, but economic developers need to go well beyond that to really understand their competitive standing.
I’ve often heard providers say that they would be happy to work with any business looking for better broadband. And in my experience they generally are happy to try to accommodate. BUT I suspect many people are using the maps to filter out places. It seems you would have to have a compelling reason to contact a community or a provider that didn’t show adequate access on a map like this – especially for small or midsized businesses.