Pleased to share a letter to the editor of Redwood Gazette from Blandin President and CEO Kathy Annette…

Recently, a team from Blandin Foundation was in Redwood Falls to celebrate the wrap-up of our partnership with Nobles County in the Blandin Broadband Communities Program.

What we saw was impressive: a diverse group of dedicated broadband champions working together to make their communities better.

Over the past 18 months, educators, entrepreneurs, health care professionals, business owners and county, city and tribal officials have come together to envision and shepherd $90,848 of Blandin investment in 10 projects designed to help ensure that all county residents have access to high speed broadband and the skills to use it.

By working together, these residents have unleashed tremendous energy that will help carry out the projects beyond the life of the grants. Taken together, the projects are improving the lives and futures  of people all across Redwood County. To name just a few – new and upgraded computers and free public Internet access at the Redwood Falls library; training for businesses and new computer users; computer distributed to low income households and innovative tele-health services that help residents age with dignity in place.

Local leadership matters. Blandin Foundation commends the community champions in Redwood Falls, especially team leaders Julie Rath, for your vision and dedication to making a more connected and equitable community.