In a recent editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Senator Matt Schmit and Senator Rod Hamilton detail the disparities between the Twin Cities and rural Minnesota. They point out that while Minnesota economic development is thriving on many counts the focus of economic benefit is metro-based and the disparity between urban and rural climate is widening. Improving infrastructure, notably broadband infrastructure in rural areas is offered as an antidote…

Greater Minnesota’s infrastructure shortcomings vary from roads to sewers, but significant disparities in broadband Internet connectivity are keeping much of Greater Minnesota from truly “connecting.” While basic connectivity for e-mail and online shopping has extended its reach, service with the speeds and reliability needed for important new applications in e-commerce, tele-medicine, education, and agriculture is sorely lacking.

According to Connect Minnesota, 92 percent of metro residents have access to speeds of 25 Mb download / 6 Mb upload; only 32 percent of rural Minnesotans enjoy this access. Nearly one-third of Greater Minnesota lacks access to speeds of 10 Mb download / 6 Mb upload — an inadequate threshold for today’s applications.

Although market forces explain much of this disparity — and, to be sure, our local providers and rural cooperatives are doing an admirable job with scarce resources — broadband connectivity for 21st century applications will have to catch up for Greater Minnesota to remain a great place to live and to work. Unfortunately, what could serve as a great equalizer in economic opportunity is now a limiting factor.

Amid this troubling news, though, there is hope. We know our weaknesses. We can target policy fixes to address them. And despite its shortcomings, Minnesota’s economy is picking up steam. Now imagine the strength of a diversified statewide economy operating on all cylinders — one that fully integrates the creativity, entrepreneurship, and productivity of all it citizens.