The Minneapolis Star Tribune ran an article this weekend on broadband in rural Minnesota. The article features economic development opportunities in Lac qui Parle County…

From a farm country studio 3½ miles down a gravel road, Jean Menden ships handmade silver jewelry as far away as Norway to customers who discovered the pendants, rings and bracelets through her website.

What the retired teacher turned silversmith lacked until recently was a robust, reliable Internet connection critical to her budding business. Before newly installed fiber-optic cable delivered ultrafast broadband to her home, it was a challenge for Menden to maintain her electronic storefront and tap into Web-based tutorials that help hone her craft.

“If you had two hours, you could watch a 10-minute video,” Menden said as she described the fitful connection that used to be the best available around Boyd, a town of 172 people not far from the Minnesota-South Dakota border.

The high-speed capability that’s an afterthought in big cities and regional centers is spreading ever deeper into the nation’s countryside, nudged along by billions in federal stimulus dollars and state efforts to expand a key amenity for both quality of life and business competitiveness.

The article also outlines some of the discussion happening around broadband deployment. It might act as a primer or maybe impetus to attend the Minnesota Broadband Task Force meeting on Tuesday or the Connect Minnesota Broadband Summit on Wednesday.

The article mentions the ARRA stimulus funding Minnesota received, some of which paid for the broadband in Boyd (mentioned above). The need for intervention if Minnesota is going to meet the broadband goals of ubiquitous broadband access with speeds of 10-20 Mbps downstream and 5-10 Mbps upstream by 2015.