Blandin on Broadband

News and information on broadband use, policy, and trends

Blandin on Broadband

Monthly Archives: April 2017

How can the Twin Cities become smart cities?

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MinnPost recently an editorial from Mike O’Leary from  Ernst & Young LLP. He offers a three-pronged approach to becoming smart…

Government

Big data is a term frequently thrown around when it comes to cities. But it’s much more than a buzzword. Big data allows government entities to take a granular look at their populations’ demands and behavioral patterns. As real-time data become more easily accessible through new data and analytics tools, governments are becoming more adaptable to meet their populations’ needs and more resilient against shocks, such as widespread disease or large-scale cyber attacks.

I would challenge governments to take this a step further by increasing their use of predictive models and behavioral approaches to policy to anticipate the needs of growing cities to become more proactive. Take transportation as an example. Data can allow government to predict commuter behaviors should autonomous buses become commonplace. If the predictive behavior looks positive, governments can make the decision to move forward with funding and create pro-autonomous bus policies.

Corporations

One key question for corporations in the Twin Cities is how to use smart assets to drive superior return on investment. Smarter infrastructure, both physical and social, is a key component for smart cities. The real estate and construction industries have a key opportunity to optimize physical assets for new technology that could revolutionize the way businesses manage assets. As an example, smart buildings equipped with the latest technology have the ability to detect and respond in real time to occupancy, environmental and operational changes. Real-time data on usage and temperature, and the ability to respond to changing conditions, can allow for reduced operational costs and greater energy efficiency.

Entrepreneurs

The sweet spot for entrepreneurs in the smart landscape is using new technologies to transform how citizens engage with their city. They are asking themselves better questions, such as: How do commuters move around the Twin Cities? Where are the epicenters of work in our cities? How are our residents spending their leisure time? Their ability to identify gaps in the market will continue to drive new commercial opportunities in Minneapolis and St. Paul. A prevalent example that comes to mind is the growth of ridesharing companies that derived from the transportation needs of those living in the city. We will continue to rely on entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers to identify the latest needs of city dwellers and innovate to meet the changing citizen demands.

A recommendation to double broadband investment in Minnesota

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MinnPost recently ran an editorial from former Senator, current policy & projects director for Growth & Justice, Matt Schmit. Matt has worked tirelessly for better broadband in rural Minnesota for years. He outlines the current situation at the Legislature…

Between 2014 and 2016, the state Legislature and governor committed more than $65 million to extending broadband connectivity to Minnesota homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions. Gov. Mark Dayton is calling for an additional $60 million investment for the next budget period and a nonpartisan broadband task force has proposed an additional $100 million. But the Minnesota Legislature so far is recommending less than $20 million – a significant step back and big letdown to the dozens of communities across the state poised to improve their connectivity in 2017.

For many communities throughout Greater Minnesota and families living outside city limits, reliable internet connectivity is anything but a given. At last measure, roughly 20 percent of rural Minnesota homes and businesses lack access to broadband – defined at modest 25 Mbps (megabits per second) for download and 3 Mbps for upload speeds.

The connectivity conundrum in Minnesota and elsewhere boils down to simple market failure, where demand for broadband is significant but spread out, and the supply of provider investment dollars is limited. It’s a completely understandable situation – but it’s not a reality we have to accept.

He points out some bumps in the road to better broabdand…

In its first three years, the competitive matching grant fund has leveraged over $81 million in private and local funds to make possible 73 projects around the state – roughly half the applications received. The approach is a great example of how smart public investment partnered with private sector or service cooperative know-how can make a real difference for Minnesotans.

But at the state Legislature, the road to better broadband has been bumpy and wrought with the usual twists and turns: false equivocation, bad information, and narrow ideology.

For instance, some buy into the notion that wireless technology will make hardwire connections obsolete. To be sure, wireless access and the “internet of things” is our future. Heck, it’s our present. But for those in Greater Minnesota interested in starting a home-based business, taking advantage of flexible work schedules or telecommuting, participating in distance learning or telehealth, wireless is a great complement – not a competitor – for hardwire service such as fiber. Oftentimes, end-user applications and employers alike require the bandwidth, reliability, and affordability of hardwire connections.

Similarly, dated hardwire technologies or seemingly modern but nonetheless inadequate options such as the latest satellite-based service fall short of the bandwidth and reliability standards for distance learning, telehealth, or working from home.

And, remember, for every internet application that’s sufficiently supported by wireless or cellular technology, a hardwired fiber connection delivers the internet to the closest tower. Extending that fiber to homes and businesses removes fears of poor reliability or monthly data caps from the equation altogether.

And make the case for legislators to think of bigger investment for broadband…

Broadband remains the greatest of equalizers for economic opportunity, competitiveness, and quality of life in Greater Minnesota.

The 2016 Legislature recognized this fact and doubled its prior investment in Minnesota’s “Border to Border Broadband” competitive matching grant fund. Now the 2017 Legislature has a chance to build momentum around a proven approach to extending the reach of broadband, leveling the connected playing field, and promoting economic opportunity across the state.

What do Americans think about broadband policies that encourage broadband adoption?

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Pew Research just unveiled the results of their latest survey looking at how folks feel about policies intended to encourage broadband adoption. Turns out a majority of folks support municipal opportunity..

A substantial majority of the public (70%) believes local governments should be able to build their own broadband networks if existing services in the area are either too expensive or not good enough, according to the survey, conducted March 13-27. Just 27% of U.S. adults say these so-called municipal broadband networks should not be allowed. (A number of state laws currently prevent cities from building their own high-speed networks, and several U.S. senators recently introduced a bill that would ban these restrictions.)

There’s a more mixed reaction to government subsidies to support low income access to broadband…

At the same time, fewer than half of Americans (44%) think the government should provide subsidies to help lower-income Americans pay for high-speed internet at home. A larger share (54%) says high-speed home internet service is affordable enough that nearly every household should be able to buy service on its own.

There’s more agreement again on the need of broadband…

These policy debates are occurring at a time when roughly nine-in-ten Americans describe high-speed internet service as either essential (49%) or important but not essential (41%). Only about one-in-ten Americans say that high-speed internet access is either not too important (6%) or not important at all (3%).

Republicans and Democrats tend to agree that broadband is important, but Democrats are more likely to say it is essential: 58% of Democrats and Democratic leaners describe broadband in this way, compared with 38% of Republicans and Republican leaners. A similar split is evident by race and ethnicity, with blacks (55%) and Hispanics (61%) more likely than whites (45%) to say that high-speed access at home is essential.

Current broadband users also place a higher value on high-speed access: 52% of current users describe the service as essential, compared with 36% among non-users. In fact, roughly a quarter of those who do not have broadband in their homes say that high-speed internet service is either not too important (15%) or not important at all (10%). Previous Pew Research Center surveys have found that broadband users see greater value in high-speed access at home than non-users, although there is evidence that attitudes among non-users have been growing more positive in recent years.

How much do you pay per bit and byte for your broadband? New comparison tool looks at speed and usage

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Grocery stores put “price per ounce/serving” labels on product shelves. It has changed how I shop. Do I always buy the cheapest? No. Not all cookies are the same. But am I better informed? Yes. The National Broadband Plan promised similar tools with their Broadband Speed and Performance Digital Labels but those were based on performance – not cost.

The Minnesota Broadband Coalition has been working on a comparison of broadband pricing based on speed (bit) and data usage (byte). The Coalition is hoping that this information can help people — both consumers and policymakers –make more informed choices.

What does this mean?

There are some extreme differences – especially with satellite. You can see that the satellite service is more expensive for both bandwidth (speed) and data usage. The satellite price for data usage, at $5 or $6 per GB (gigabyte) compares unfavorably to the dimes and nickels charged by landline providers. For all providers except satellite, the lower bandwidth services have the highest price per Mbps (megabit per second).  In other words, the more you use, the less you pay per unit. There are two providers have no data cap for their Gigabit service.

Sources now put monthly average household data use at 190 GB (gigabyte) and that number is constantly growing. For rural residents that use data for school, business, health care or other data-heavy activities, it is clear that satellite is an expensive or very limiting broadband option.  It is, however, available everywhere, for those who can afford it.

The Coalition has created a broadband cost analysis spreadsheet that you can use to help calculate the unit cost of your broadband.

Mini-Lesson: Reminder on bits (speed) versus bytes (data usage)

  • Mbps is a measure of speed – megabits per second.) Speed provides the capacity to interact online. The FCC has a guide to help track speed requirements by online activity. For example, streaming an HD video requires 4 Mbps connection (download). To figure out your household’s speed requirement, you’ll have to consider all the users of broadband – every laptop, smartphone, ipad and the Internet of things for each member of your household or office.  Think about it – your family is probably using more than one device at the same time.
  • GB is a measure of how much data you’re using – gigabytes. For example, an HD movie may be 3-5 GB.  It’s like a cup that gets filled. Depending on your provider, you may pay more if you overfill your cup, your connection maybe slowed down if your cup gets filled or your provider may not have data caps (aka data allowances) so you can interact online (download or upload) without limitations. Many people have experience with usage on mobile contracts – but cellular providers aren’t the only ones that track and charge by usage.

Need more? I wrote a longer piece on bits/bytes and average household use in December.

Mark Erickson (RS Fiber) on the NPR Rural Life on how fiber retains youth (or calls them back)

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The Call In: Rural Life is a NPR show based on phone calls from folks in rural areas. The host mentioned that challenges that come up on a regular basis include: broadband, healthcare and education. Last weekend they spoke to a retired teacher to Minnesota’s own Mark Erickson from RS Fiber.

The teacher spoke about the difficulty of keeping students in a rural area once they graduate. Mark chimed in with Renville and Sibley Counties’ use of fiber to encourage students to stay. He offers an explanation of how or why people in the area can afford to invest in broadband…

ERICKSON: We formed a cooperative, and the subscribers to our network are the owners. So let me give you an example. To build a fiber-optic network and connect people in towns, the cost per home or per business is about $2,500. To build that network and connect the farms, it’s about $10,000, about the cost of a used pickup.

Now, the people in this area felt that those kinds of per home, per farm investments are OK because what the Internet can do for education and health care is amazing. We just feel it’s an investment that the phone companies and cable companies are unable to make. So the folks in this very conservative part of Minnesota decided that they wanted to put their tax dollars on the line and enable this network.

And he mentions the reward of investment…

ERICKSON: Well, it helps the present businesses. We’ve had several here say that hooking up to the fiber network has increased their ability to do business greatly. But we also saw this as something for the future, like you allude to. We expect our children to leave our communities when they graduate from high school and go to college and learn about life. But they have to have a reason to return. And the millennials today, and those who follow, will find it difficult to come back to a community that doesn’t offer the kind of Internet connection that they want. What we have our fingers crossed for, and it looks pretty good, we believe we’ve attracted a four-year medical school to our area, which will change the face of our communities in a very positive way for a long, long time, if it happens. And that was a direct result of the fiber network.

Shareable content on rural broadband from NTCA

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The NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association has started to collect collateral to help communities promote rural broadband. They want to hear your story, to share your story and invite you to share their resources. Sign up and share your story and their send you a social media kit to get you started.

NE Minnesota Communities Need Better Broadband

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The Grand Rapids Herald Review recently posted a letter to the editor from Dr. Kathy Annette, President of the Blandin Foundation…

To reach fullest potential, NE Minnesota communities need better broadband | Opinion | grandrapidsmn.com

 

The author William Gibson writes, “The future is already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed.” So true when it comes to broadband, especially.

Given Minnesota’s many opportunities and challenges — in economy, healthcare, education, and public life – it is easy to see how access and use of high-speed Internet is essential for progress. Yet absent adequate broadband, existing opportunity gaps across our state will continue to widen.

High-speed Internet availability maps show that nearly all of the state’s un- and underserved areas are in rural communities. In Northeast Minnesota, nearly 30 percent of residents still do not have Internet access that meets state standards.

The 2016 Border-to-Border state broadband grant awards are proof that Minnesota’s communities and community-minded providers are ready and able to put partnerships and investments to work to build world-class broadband networks, generating huge returns on public investment in both access and use. There is no shortage of vision and passion in rural Minnesota.

For example, the most recent round of state broadband grant awards will improve speeds for residents in Fayal Township, south of Eveleth, to the 2026 state speed goal of 100 megabits per second download by 20 megabits per second upload.

Future business development, health care and educational opportunities in Harris Township will be supported with an improved fiber and coaxial hybrid network.

After a county-wide, resident-driven broadband campaign, rural Itasca County residents will benefit from a gigabit fiber buildout.

These projects illustrate how Northeast Minnesotans have blended community leadership, public investment and responsive providers to bring broadband-fueled opportunities to their region. It is a similar story statewide, where in three funding rounds to date, the state’s broadband grants program has supported more than 73 projects serving more than 25,000 households.

Blandin Foundation has had the great privilege, since 2003, to stand with dozens of rural Minnesota communities as they imagine and claim futures that are healthy, resilient and connected. After many years of partnership building, it is thrilling to see the impact of the state’s grants program in communities that have done the hard work to prepare to put the public funds to good use.

Congratulations to leaders both at the local and state levels who stood up and took the risks so that all Minnesotans could have a more connected, vibrant future.

Of course, we still have work to do. Communities need high-speed Internet access to reach their fullest potential and we must not stop until border-to-border broadband is a reality for all rural Minnesotans.

SF1937 Omnibus Job Growth & Energy Finance bill passes – $7 million for broadband grants

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A funny thing happened on my way to attend the SF1937 Omnibus discussion on the House floor on Thursday. First, I stopped to check out the satellite demonstration I mentioned earlier this week. HughesNet was giving demonstrations. The invitation has said bring your laptop so I was looking forward to testing Skype and some other applications. Unfortunately when I got there they told me I couldn’t use my own laptop. I could do a demonstration their laptop – but they didn’t have Skype. So no demo – but I did get a flier for their service.

Then I tried to go to the House Floor and was met by a lot of civic engagement. Specifically a lot of people were there to protest the Enbridge pipeline upgrades. So I wasn’t going to get anywhere near the room – but the meeting was well over 5 hours long so in retrospect, I dodged a bullet.

I’ve been watching the archive of the meeting and I’ve tried to pull out any discussion related to broadband. Spoiler alert – the Omnibus passed with what sounded like a genuine promise on both sides of the aisle to work together to smooth out wrinkles on contention.

Here are the broadband highlights in order discussed…

How does one Minnesota farmer use broadband?

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Recently the Daily Yonder published an article from Craig Settles on RS Fiber and the impact their wireless (25 Mbps symmetrical) service has had on one local farmer…

“I can download the maps from a cloud-based app to my iPad and desktop or access data on the cloud through a web browser that lets me determine the state of our planting and monitoring crops harvesting,” Rieke says. “Using a second iPad, we can log into the planter or combine and view a live stream of what’s happening at that moment.”

Broadband is also part of the automated security system at Rieke’s hog barns. And broadband allows him to collect and transmit planting and harvest data to improve productivity and get the most out of his inputs like fertilizer.  …

Besides mapping data with his on-the-ground machinery, Rieke says he can rent drones and cameras capable of providing general crop health.

“On a 40-acre field, I will pull about 20 grid points, which equates to about 300 soil cores,” he said. “I then input the data from these 20 grid points in an app that program creates soil maps. The harvest maps are created using GPS and sensors in the combine.”

For additional vital data, Rieke’s crop consultant flies over the fields to take pictures or videos, and uploads the content to a cloud storage system for Rieke to access later.

As Settles points out – it makes a case for rural broadband, even in farming areas that tend to have low population densities.

 

Kandiyohi County works on bond sale for Border to Border broadband network

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Last month, I wrote about progress on the Kandiyohi-CTC Border to Border funded fiber upgrades. CTC was holding meetings to talk about the upgrades in the impacted and nearby areas. This week the community took another big step in their project.

According to the West Central Tribune…

One more step was completed Tuesday as Kandiyohi County prepares to sell $5 million in tax abatement bonds to help fund the development of rural broadband.

The County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday for property tax abatements totaling $5 million over 20 years. The move will have no impact on actual property taxes paid but is a requirement for the county to use tax abatement bonds as a financing mechanism.

Shelly Eldridge, senior municipal adviser with Ehlers, said it’s “the backup that supports the general obligation.”

This is the first time Kandiyohi County has sought this type of financing for an infrastructure project. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds will supply the local share of a $10 million broadband expansion in north central Kandiyohi County by Consolidated Telecommunications Co. of Brainerd.

Webinar April 19: Strategies for Broadband Adoption and Digital Inclusion in Rural Communities

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Looks like a good session…

BroadbandUSA Webinar Series

Topic: BroadbandUSA Practical Broadband Conversations: Strategies for Broadband Adoption and Digital Inclusion in Rural Communities

Date: Wednesday, April 19 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT

Overview: This webinar will focus on strategies to promote broadband adoption and digital inclusion in rural communities, highlighting the role of libraries and university extension programs. The speakers will discuss research findings on the effect of broadband adoption in rural economic development, as well as program strategies to facilitate digital inclusion, such as mobile-hotspot lending programs, community outreach and digital skills training. Click here to register.

Speakers: Dr. Brian Whitacre, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University; Dr. Bharat Mehra, Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee Knoxville; and Katie Hill, Director, Coffeyville (Kan.) Public Library. Emy Tseng, Senior Broadband Program Specialist, BroadbandUSA will facilitate the discussion.

 

Please pre-register for the webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

US Bank upgrading broadband for the Superbowl

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The US Bank Stadium is apparently getting ready for the Superbowl. Channel 4’s Jason DeRusha just did a story on upgrades they are making to the stadium’s wifi network to accommodate all of the fans and media outlets coming to the game.

Some interesting notes –

  • The network is synchronous – meaning same upload and download – so that people can publish info as quickly as they can download it.
  • They have 1300 wifi access pointss
  • The network supports 2400 HDTV.
  • They can support 70,000 devices all online at the same time

House to discuss broadband; also satellite demo at the Capitol April 6

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Tomorrow (April 6) the House is scheduled to talk about the Omnibus Job Growth and Energy Affordability Finance bill. (Same bill (SF1937) I posted about yesterday – where they budgeted $7 million (for one year only) for broadband grant funding. Here are the details from the MN Legislative website:

THURSDAY: House Floor Session *
Thursday, Apr. 6, 2017 10:00 AM
Watch HTV 1
* The start time of Thursday’s House Floor Session has not been set.
CALENDAR FOR THE DAY.
SF605 (Anderson, S.) Omnibus State Government Finance bill.
SF1937 (Garofalo) Omnibus Job Growth and Energy Affordability Finance bill.

It will be live-streamed – so easy to watch from home. The timing can be tricky – you’ll need to keep an eye on the schedule.

Also at the Capitol- The Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association will be demonstrating their satellite connectivity on Thursday. From SBCA…

Join us to experience High-Speed Satellite Broadband

Bring laptops and personal devices to log on to the internet using our new high-speed satellite broadband!

Thursday April 6, 2017
10 am to 2 pm
Upper Capitol Mall

Learn more about high-speed satellite broadband and the opportunities it provides Minnesotans throughout the state – particularly for communities with limited internet access.

 

Ways and Means April 3 – Senate File 1937 Omnibus Job Growth and Energy Affordability bill moves to general register

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The Minnesota Ways and Means met last night (video archive available)  to hear  SF1937 (HF2209) Omnibus Job Growth & Energy Affordability Finance. The language of HF2209 was inserted into SF1937 as a delete-all amendment. Here’s the latest version (3rd engrossment) available on the legislation site right now. (I don’t think it yet reflects the amendments from last night.)

The reduction is broadband funding was discussed. They have only budgeted $7 million for Border to Border grants. Representative Garofalo said that there was no need for funding since everyone now has access to 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up through HugheNet satellite. I’ve pulled those segments out for quick viewing:

There were some concerns about VoIP. Rep Hilstrom took issue (around min 34) and was concerned that doing away with landlines will remove consumer protections. Also there was discussion related to the Amendment that changes the budget coming from telecom $2 billion to $977 million reduction – based on reductions coming from changes to VoIP.

SF 1937 is referred to the general register.

Blandin on Broadband eNews April 2017: Broadband at the legislature

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A recap of news from March…heat-map

Broadband Day on the Hill – March 15, 2017
More than 80 participants spoke with more than 40 legislators about the need for continued funding for the Office of Broadband Development and Border to Border Grants. They also heard from Lt Governor Tina Smith, a panel of legislators and a panel of broadband users from rural areas. http://wp.me/p3if7-41X (Get a view of the day from 6th grader Sammie Garrity, who was on a panel. http://wp.me/p3if7-42f)

Digital Divide Index – MN is slipping
The Digital Divide Index measures access to broadband and propensity of a community (County-level info available) to use that broadband. Minnesota’s measure went from 38.09 to 41.92 (lower score is better). http://wp.me/p3if7-43z

Akamai Report – MN broadband ranks #25-29
The latest Akamai Report is out Q4 (2016). This is how Minnesota ranks compared to other states: http://wp.me/p3if7-42i

  • Average connection speed – #26
  • Average peak connection speed – #27
  • Percentage of population adopting 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up – #26

MN communities focusing on broadband
There are at least 10 communities (several multi-county communities) that are actively looking at efforts to improve broadband. State broadband funding makes it easier for them to create a business case and attract provider interest in upgrades and/or expansion. http://wp.me/p3if7-437

Rural counties with the highest levels of broadband have the highest levels of income
A study conducted by Cornell University found that rural counties with the highest levels of broadband have the highest levels of income and education and lower levels of unemployment and poverty. http://wp.me/p3if7-42R

Mediacom announces communities upgrading to Gig in 2017
Mediacom announced their plan to upgrade Minnesota customers last December. Recently they released their schedule for upgrades – by county and community. http://wp.me/p3if7-43s

How do we measure economic impact of broadband?
The Internet sector is currently credited with 6 percent of the national GDP, but is that accurate? The Internet Association white paper, Refreshing Our Understanding of the Internet Economy, outlines the deficiencies in the way economic impact of broadband is currently measured. http://wp.me/p3if7-43d

Broadband competition is essential to better service and lower costs in rural areas
Brookings recently looked at broadband in rural areas, postulating that competition is a key component to quality broadband in rural areas. http://wp.me/p3if7-42q

Notes from MN legislative session:

Federal Legislation/Policy Items

Local Broadband News

Blackduck and Hines
Paul Bunyan upgrade broadband access in Backduck and Hines. http://wp.me/p3if7-42d

Brainerd
Rise in tech companies in Brainerd Area are due to Broadband access http://wp.me/p3if7-42P

Kandiyohi County
CTC hosts a meeting to discuss their Border to Border project in Spicer MN http://wp.me/p3if7-42F  http://wp.me/p3if7-425

Kandiyohi County to sell bonds next month to finance broadband project http://wp.me/p3if7-41F

Lac qui Parle County
The Computer Commuter is a revamped mini-bus bringing broadband and computers to communities around Lac qui Parle county. http://wp.me/p3if7-42V

Mantorville
Details on Mantorville Border to Border grant http://wp.me/p3if7-41m

Twin Cities
National Digital Inclusion Conference unveils wealth of resources in the Twin Cities http://wp.me/p3if7-422

Willmar
An app developed at the Hack2O last fall is still in development thanks to funds from the Blandin Foundation, staff time from Ridgewater College and the RITA program. http://wp.me/p3if7-43g

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Looking for more events? Check out TechDotMN’s calendar http://tech.mn/events/. Many events are based in the Twin Cities but it is a comprehensive list. (If you have an upcoming event, consider submitting it.)

Opportunities

  • Broadband Innovation and Robust Network Feasibility Fund grant award amounts range from $1,000 to $25,000; matching funds are required. Grant application deadlines for 2017 are April 7, June 23 and September 22.http://wp.me/p3if7-3M7
  • Broadband Installer Specialists Needed http://wp.me/p3if7-416

Stirring the Pot

This month I offer congratulations to Chisago Lakes Minnesota.  Two years ago, five small towns decided to identify and work together as one community in the America’s Best Communities competition sponsored by Frontier Communications, Dish Network, The Weather Channel and Co-Bank. Chisago Lakes includes Chisago City, Lindstrom, Center City, Shafer and Taylors Falls and several townships, a total population of about 20,000.  Leadership for this initiative has come from all sectors – business, health care, local units of government, community volunteers, the school district, Chisago County EDA/HRA, community foundation and chamber of commerce.  I am honored to have worked with Chisago Lakes throughout this planning and implementation process.  They have proven that both vision and leadership matters.

Chisago Lakes was one of more than 400 communities that submitted initial applications to ABC in pursuit of the top prizes of $3 million, $2 million and $1 million dollars.  Clearly, the prospective rewards were a huge motivation for the Chisago Lakes community to enter this competition, especially in the first several meetings.  After that, the positive rewards of working together towards a clearly defined mission on community-established priorities overwhelmed the focus on the awards.  Of course, the idea of winning $3 million dollars is always a pretty good motivator when momentum slowed!

As one of 50 quarter-finalists, Chisago Lakes was awarded $50,000 to create their economic revitalization plan.  They used these funds for project management outside consulting, feasibility studies and community engagement.  The plan has six elements: Marketing and Branding; Broadband and Technology; Energy; Healthy Community; Trails; and Workforce.  Based on this written plan, Chisago Lakes was selected as one of 15 communities to share their plans via a ten-minute presentation in Durham North Carolina.  So much to say, so little time.  Many hours went into creating and practicing that ten-minutes so that every word mattered.   Chisago Lakes’ pitch moved us forward as one of eight finalists.

Even before being named a finalist, we had begun implementing our plan.  With the $100,000 finalist prize in hand, Chisago Lakes continued to implement its plan using mostly volunteers on self-directed work teams.  They used the plan to guide their work, pivoting as necessary and as opportunities arose.  Late in the year, a housing team formed and began work on a key community issue that had been identified as a priority in our planning process, but had been set aside due to the long timelines on housing development. Success on the other projects encouraged housing leaders to initiate their efforts.

ABC Judges are now at work reviewing Chisago Lakes’ work on the 19 specific projects documented in more than 70 pages of reports. Well over 100 community volunteers worked to implement the plan. Multiple hundreds participated in ABC – related events.  Several million dollars were invested in these projects – by telecommunications providers, electric utilities, local businesses, and government. Needless to say, the excitement is building in Chisago Lakes.  The announcement is April 19th in Denver.  Such amazing results! Good luck Chisago Lakes!!