I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the Office of Broadband Development and news gathered from the last year.

Crow Wing has moved their ranking up from 63 to 61.

Good news for Crow Wing County, Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative $15 million loan from the USDA last summer. So, service should just keep improving…

Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative received $15,000,000 loan.
This Rural Development investment will add 575 consumers, build 42 miles of line, improve 38 miles and make other system improvements. The loan amount includes $2,961,860 for smart grid projects.  Mille Lacs Energy is headquartered in Aitkin. It serves about 15,150 consumers in Aitkin, Crow Wing and Mille Lacs counties.  The economy of the territory is principally based on tourism, recreational activities and light industry.

Crow Wing County was one of the communities we studied last fall for the Measuring Community ROI report. We looked at the community investments and results…

The following public investments have been made:

• $5 million bonding for school technology (2002)
• $5 million ARRA funding to serve Crow Wing and Cass
• $2 million Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Grant (2015) to CTC to serve Crow Wing and Cass
• $3 million Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Grant (2016) to TDS to serve Crow Wing and Cass
• $123,450 from Blandin Foundation to support broadband adoption projects in the Resilient Region, which includes Crow Wing County
• Total: $15,123,450

Using formulas devised to measure impact of broadband access Crow Wing has the potential to realize:

• A combined household economic benefit of broadband of $67,412,150 annually
• A combined increase in residential real estate value of $214,662,149

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 61

• Find more articles on broadband in Crow Wing County. (http://tinyurl.com/zechgaw)
• Districts: CD 8 / 10