Monthly Archives: September 2019

Beltrami County: ranks 6 for access to 10 (out of 87) 0/20: code green

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Beltrami County is poised to meet the MN speed goals for both 2022 and 2026. In fact, they have been celebrating their first place ranking (for access to Gig speeds) since the latest maps came out in summer of 2019.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Beltrami 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 98.79 96.30 96.35
25/3 (2022 goal) 99.41 99.40 99.36

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Beltrami County is lucky enough to be home to Paul Bunyan Communications. a local cooperative that has chosen to upgrade their area to Gigabit speeds. Paul Bunyan also is  active in the community, including by sponsoring tech-intensive events such as  an annual Gigazone Gaming competition, which bring cash prizes and lots of gamers to the area each year.

Last year, Beltrami was included in a Blandin Foundation research  report on the community return on public investment in broadband, noting the following investments have been made in the community:

  • $1.4 million to buy and renovate the Historic Mayflower Building into the LaunchPad supported in part by Greater Bemidji, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant and Paul Bunyan Communications
  • $32,000 in Broadband Innovation Grants from Blandin Foundation
  • Total: $1,432,000

Using formulas devised to measure impact of broadband access, from these investments Beltrami County has the potential to realize:

  • A combined household economic benefit of broadband of $38,631,700 annually
  • A combined increase in residential real estate value of $102,593,266

Beltrami has not benefited from MN state grants; they have not received grants from the Blandin Foundation. They are an example of a community that benefits from fully invested provider. There are many ingredients that can help a community get better broadband – an invested provider trumps them all – but it takes intentional  community effort – like we’ve seen in Beltrami – to maximize those benefits.

In September 2019, Senator Klobuchar’s staff held a listening session in Beltrami County. In general, people were happy with their broadband, but one of the local providers complained about faulty mapping. Showing some communities as served, as is the case in parts of Baxter, when in fact they are not, is a barrier to seeking public investment to address those needs.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 6 (up 2)
  • 25/3 ranking: 7 (down 1)
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 5.5
  • Number of providers: 7

Details:

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. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

  • Red (yikes)
  • Yellow (warning)
  • Green (good shape)

Becker: ranks last among counties for access to 100/20 broadband – 87 out of 87: code red

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Becker County is in a precarious position. They might make the speed goals for 2022, but they have little chance of making the 2026 goal. The reason that gap is a problem is that the majority who today are feeling okay about their 25/3 access are not motivated to mobilize for improvement to meet the impending 2026 goals.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Becker 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 6.22 12.95 6.58
25/3 (2022 goal) 91.36 88.94 69.41

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

In 2016, Becker County benefitted from a MN State Broadband grant that built a network that exceeds Minnesota’s 2026 goals:

  • 2016 – PAUL BUNYAN COMMUNICATIONS HUBBARD, BECKER & ITASCA COUNTIES – GRANT: $1,742,232
    This last mile project will serve 785 unserved households, 26 unserved businesses, 2 unserved community anchor institutions and 143 underserved households and 2 underserved businesses in a multi-county region in north central Minnesota. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota and Itasca County, Paul Bunyan will improve service levels in the project area to 1 Gigabit service, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal of 100 Mbps by 20 Mbps.

There are seven providers in Becker County, but much of the area is covered only by one (according to the map below – where light green represents areas with one provider, but one that is not a national provider).

Becker was also in line for $821,889 in CAF 2  (federal) funding to cover 2,341 locations. Unfortunately, CAF 2 only requires providers to build to 10/1 Mbps access. This might explain some of the county’s strides towards the 2022 goals of 25/3. That level of service clearly is  better than 10/1, but it isn’t likely to meet future needs.

Given that there is one provider for much of the county, Becker County could try to partner with them for a future MN broadband grant. Or find a provider who might be interested in coming into the area.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 87
  • 25/3 ranking: 32
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 9.2
  • Number of providers: 7

Details:

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. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

  • Red (yikes)
  • Yellow (warning)
  • Green (good shape)

Anoka County: ranks 8 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 Code: code green

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Anoka County is poised to make both the 2022 and 2026 speed goals with just a little effort.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Anoka 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 97.47 97.86 96.1
25/3 (2022 goal) 98.8 98.87 97.56

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

The County received federal (ARRA) funding in 2013. In partnership with Zayo, the County was able to build a 287-mile broadband network for government facilities.  This project did not and still does not contribute to any last-mile broadband connections to residents or businesses.

Despite being in good shape, the folks in the county are still doing what they can to narrow the digital divide. In 2019, Libraries without Boundaries, Anoka County Libraries and the Department of Education held a meeting in a manufactured (mobile) home park to talk about how to better serve the needs of residents with improved access to library services and broadband.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 8 (down 3 from 2018)
  • 25/3 ranking: 10 (no change)
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 271.7
  • Number of providers: 6

Details

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. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

  • Red (yikes)
  • Yellow (warning)
  • Green (good shape)

Aitkin County: rank is 80 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 Code: red

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Aitkin County is not on track to make the MN State broadband goals for either  2022 or 2026. While the percentage of population covered at speed goals has increased, their ranking dipped this year and last, which indicates that they aren’t improving at the rate of other counties. And they were already in bottom 10 ranking.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Aitkin 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 37.74 17.55 11.52
25/3 (2022 goal) 60.17 45.68 27.48

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Aitkin County government and residents have  long been organized to promote broadband access and adoption. The county partnered with rural sections of three neighboring counties to participate as the  Central Woodlands in the 2015-2016 Blandin Broadband Community cohort , and then as part of the IRBC (Iron Range Broadband Communities) cohort. Over the past four years the county has made considerable investment in both dollars and staff time in pursuing better broadband.

They have benefited from two MN state grants in their area:

  • 2017 – SCI – Shamrock Township Broadband Expansion – GRANT $148,503
    Project planned to serve 374 unserved households near and around the Big Sandy Lake area in Aitkin County to improve broadband service levels to 250 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up.
  • 2016 – MILLE LACS ENERGY COOPERATIVE FTTP PROJECT – GRANT: $1,757,640
    Project planned to serve 763 unserved households, 2 unserved businesses, 2 unserved community anchor institutions and 31 underserved households and 2 underserved businesses in Aitkin County with fiber-to-the-premise access.

Blue covers area with 1 Top 6 provider

While countywide there are 11 providers, you can see from the map below that much of Aitkin County is served by only one provider – and that is a large national provider. It can be a challenge to get a national provider to work in an area with such low population density. But Aitkin has been persistent.  In April 2019, the county economic development agency hosted a “Connecting the Dots” event to talk about broadband. Both a County Commissioner and Local Representative (Lueck) have asked the community to make broadband a priority.

In September 2019, Senator Klobuchar’s staff held a listening session in Aitkin County. They spoke about the need for government subsidies to build broadband in area with lower population density and CAF II funding was not sufficient because it only required 25/3 service.

Aitkin County could benefit from future grants from the state broadband fund. In 2019, three proposals  were submitted that would benefit Aitkin. Emily Coop, Mille Lacs Energy and SCI are hoping to upgrade different parts of Aitkin County. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

Details:

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. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

  • Red (yikes)
  • Yellow (warning)
  • Green (good shape)

MN Broadband County Profiles 2019: 87 counties – 87 broadband stories

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Minnesota has two broadband speed goals:

  • Ubiquitous access to speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up (25/3) by 2022
  • Ubiquitous access to 100/20 by 2026

These are more aggressive than federal standards; the Minnesota Broadband Task Force suggested them and the Minnesota Legislature put them into statute because it puts Minnesota on track to be competitive globally and it levels the playing field for rural, urban and suburban counties.

Using maps and data from the Office of Broadband Development and stories collected on the Blandin on Broadband blog, I have compiled a broadband snapshot of each county and their progress, especially to meeting the 2026 goal. (Progress toward the 2022 goal does not necessarily bring a county closer to the 2026 goal because there some broadband options will get to speeds of 25/3 but not 100/20.)

I have also coded each county with Red, Yellow or Green. These are meant be indicators of the level urgency a county might consider for their broadband planning moving forward. I factored in current percentage of access covered but also recent activity in the county and provider options available to them.

I will post the profiles over the next 2 days (so the links below may not work until Sep 28) because it’s a lot of data to include at once. On Monday (Sep 30) I will post an analysis of themes and lessons I learned looking at each county. I will be eager to talk to anyone about the profiles at the 15th annual broadband conference (Innovation: Putting Broadband to Work) Oct 8-10 at Grand View Lodge.

Here are other links that might be of interest:

Counties:

Four companies seek broadband grants for Douglas County

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The Alexandria Echo Press reports…

Four companies have applied for state grants to expand internet access next year in Douglas County, according to records made public last week.

Arvig, Charter, Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association and Runestone Telecom Association are all seeking some of the $20 million the Minnesota Legislature approved this year to help expand high-quality internet access throughout the state.

They took a look at how the providers chose their areas…

Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association has applied for six grants, responding to neighborhoods that organized and asked for service, said Executive Director Dave Wolf.

“The neighborhoods we selected were all unserved as far as the state map was concerned,” he said. “We had been reached out to by residents in those neighborhoods.”

A Lake Victoria neighborhood was particularly active, he said, with residents helping to organize their neighbors.

“It’s a grass roots thing, very effective, but we encourage that,” Wolf said.

Next year, Gardonville would like to run fiber to 600 homes, including 300 existing customers and 300 new customers, he said. Gardonville chose to break up its grant requests into six projects, hoping that if one grant gets turned down, another will win approval.

Meanwhile, Runestone applied for just one grant, but it covers a sizable chunk of turf south of Interstate 94.

“This is by far the biggest one that we’ve applied for,” Hedstrom said. Runestone’s first grant was for 100 locations and its second was for 400 locations. This one includes 965 locations.

“We kind of went where people called, and where people contacted us,” he said. “It doesn’t make much sense to do (Lake) Andrew and Forada and skip everybody in between. They’re just as important as everybody else.”

And here’s a look at the specifics…

It’s unlikely that all these projects would receive full funding from Minnesota’s Border-to-Border grant program. However, they outline the neighborhoods that internet providers in Douglas County want to reach. Every project listed here would provide internet speeds well above the state’s goals.

Charter

  • Along U.S. Highway 29 southwest of Carlos, including Maple Way and Maple Lane NE. It would provide speeds of 940 megabits per second download and 35 megabits per second upload.

Gardonville

  • South of the interstate on the north side of Lake Andrew
  • Between Lakes Darling and Ida, around Lake Charley
  • Southeast of Garfield, along Centennial Drive NW from N. Oaks Lane NW to County Road 22 NW
  • Inside the wishbone of Lake Victoria, along its eastern shoreline
  • Near the Minnesouri Club, along Krohnfeldt Drive on Lake Miltona
  • Around Lakes Mina and Latoka
  • Gardonville would provide speeds of one gigabit upload and one gigabit download.

Runestone

  • Just one grant, but it’s a biggie, looping a chunk of Douglas County south of I-94. Like Gardonville, it would provide one gigabit down and one gigabit up.

Arvig/Tekstar

  • It also wants grant money to install connections in Forada and around Maple Lake; it would provide speeds of one gigabit down and 100 megabits up.

The Echo Press did a nice job getting info that is helpful to the community and beyond!

 

Senator Klobuchar supports rural broadband with Dig Once and better mapping

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Faribault Daily News posts a letter from Senator Amy Klobuchar. She talks about the benefits of broadband, especially for rural areas based on recent visits from her staff to Bemidji, Walker, Wadena, Aitkin, Brainerd and Mora …

I’ve heard from people across our state about how access to broadband is changing their lives and making their jobs easier. For example, farmers have told me they are excited about how advances in precision agriculture—like technology that can detect the level of moisture in the soil— can help them save money, increase yields, and protect the environment. And tractors can now use wireless broadband to send data directly back to the farm, allowing farmers to better manage their operations.

We have also seen advancements in telehealth technology that can help connect rural communities around the state to health care providers hundreds of miles away. Doctors can monitor the fetal heart rate and the weight and blood pressure of low-risk expectant moms remotely without having them drive to a clinic. Remote monitoring can also link specialists to patients and doctors in rural areas to provide real time consultations from the other side of the state.

And talks about plans to help make that happen…

I’ve always believed that when we invest in our infrastructure, including improved access to broadband, we invest in opportunity for every American. If we do this right, we can bridge the rural and urban divide that’s damaging our country and hurting our economy. That’s why I sponsored legislation to make broadband deployment easier by requiring coordination between states and federal agencies when highway projects are built so that broadband infrastructure is installed at the same time. In other words, agencies only “dig once” and lay the groundwork for broadband when building or expanding roads. A provision based on my bill was signed into law last year. “Dig once” policies help streamline broadband deployment and reduce the costs of building new broadband infrastructure while also helping expand wireless coverage in our rural areas.

As we work to bring high-speed internet to communities across the country, it’s critical that we have a clear and accurate understanding of where broadband is available and where it is not. While the Federal Communication Commission collects this information and provides maps that display broadband availability, these maps significantly overstate coverage in many rural areas. That’s why I introduced bipartisan legislation – the Broadband DATA Act — with Senators Wicker, Thune, and Peters, to collect more precise data so that broadband deployment funds will go where they are needed most. This bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee in July, and I am working to quickly get it signed into law.

Inaugural Tribal Broadband Summit: emphasizing the role of librarians

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I was lucky enough to participate in the first Tribal Broadband Summit. I haven’t been able to take my usual notes – because I’ve been giving a few presentations but I’m happy to share the high level view.

Tribal lands are in desperate shape for broadband access – and it can be a matter or life and death. We’ve heard stories of people not getting medical attention because of lack of infrastructure. (Really phones – but as you can imagine, no phones means no internet.)

There are a few reservations that are in better shape – thanks to some heavy lifting by awesome champions. I’m always impressed with the champions of deployment who go from knowing nothing about broadband to knowing every nuance – because they have to. It’s like me learning how to build a car – just so I can drive it.

People recognize that a hybrid network (wired-wireless) is probably the best way to go to reach some people in remote locations. But in the same breathe people recognize the impact of weather and other forces on wireless technology. (There are a few folks from Alaska here.)

Attendees are interested in broadband use. Libraries are key players – both in use and deployment. People have been creative with white spaces and e-rate.

FCC Chair Pai spoke on the first day. He announced a new program to get spectrum to tribal areas…

One new policy I’m particularly excited about will give Tribes priority access to spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. This band is the largest contiguous block of spectrum below 3 GHz in the United States. But today, this valuable spectrum currently isn’t used in most of the Western United States. That’s partly because technological advances have rendered the band’s original intended uses outdated, and partly because arcane rules have left it dramatically underused. So this summer, the FCC took action. We removed obsolete restrictions on this band, allowing greater flexibility in how the spectrum can be used. But here’s the big news you’ll want to know about: We’re giving rural Indian tribes an exclusive window to obtain this spectrum to serve rural Tribal lands. That’s right. Before any commercial auction of this spectrum, Tribes can obtain this spectrum for free. This is the first time in the FCC’s history that we have ever given Tribal entities what we call a “priority window” to obtain spectrum for wireless broadband. I’m proud that it is happening under my watch, and I hope that Tribes will take advantage of it.

Head of Dep of Education Betsy DeVos spoke about the value of broadband and importance of government getting out of the way of better broadband.  Many other government officials in the room proudly spoke about the support they have given to get broadband and broadband programming onto tribal lands. For example the Institute for Museums and Library Services has awarded over $60 million in 15 years for grants invested in library tribal services – for online archiving, digital inclusion, online storytelling.

I learned about MLab – a cool tool to help track and map broadband use and services.

And I tried to talk up the Minnesota Broadband model. Here are the presentations…

GigaZone Gaming Championship Set for November 2

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So excited to see this grow – and to let you know that they will be talking about the GigaZone Gaming as part of our Digital Showcase for the Fall Broadband Conference (Oct 8-10)…

Largest Esports Stadium Style Gaming Event in Northern Minnesota with over $5,000 in cash and prizes

(Bemidji, MN) (September 23, 2019) – The 4th annual GigaZone Gaming Championship is set for Saturday, November 2 at the Sanford Center George W. Neilson Convention Center. The event features free gaming on various console and arcade games, numerous tournaments, virtual reality, door prizes, and more.  All the fun is free.  Over 3,500 attended the event last year.

This one of a kind regional gaming event showcases Paul Bunyan Communications’ IT and web development team which custom built and integrated much of the online technology and leverages the speed of the GigaZone one of the largest rural all-fiber optic Gigabit networks in the country. The entire event is run off a single residential GigaZone Internet connection.

This year’s main stage tournament will feature Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate on the esports stadium style stage in the GigaZone Championship Arena.  In addition to the main stage, there will be tournaments of Overwatch, Fortnite, Mario Kart 8, Madden 20, Magic the Gathering Booster Drafts, and more.  Registration for all tournaments will start at the Sanford Center November 2 at 10 a.m. and go until full.

“There is a large gaming community in our area and GigaZone Gaming Championship not only showcases some of the region’s best gamers but it gives everyone a chance to get in on the action!” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager

“Our cooperative continues to expand one of the largest rural fiber gigabit networks in the country and that brings many advantages to our members.  The GigaZone provides extreme speed and low latency which are critical for the best online gaming experience and the GigaZone Gaming Championship showcases just that,” added Leo Anderson, Paul Bunyan Communications Technology Experience Manager.

“There is no other gaming event like it anywhere I’ve seen. It’s unique to our area and we are very proud of our team for making it happen. There is no catch, everyone and anyone gets to game for free!” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, the Sanford Center, as well as support from several regional and national partners.

For more information on the GigaZone Gaming Championship visit www.gigazonegaming.com

 

Startup Bootcamp for Coworking Spaces – Or how MN became the land of 10,000 coworking spaces

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What is a coworking space? It’s a shared place where folks can go and work. There’s space and broadband and maybe office supplies, a conference room to host meetings and coffee maker in the corner. Sometimes there’s regular programming too – maybe guests come in to talk about various business topics. Or maybe the coworking members talk about their businesses. People work and network. It’s great for remote workers, for people who can’t get broadband at home, for entrepreneurs who want an office away from home but not full office rent.

There’s a lot of variety in coworking spaces – just as there are lots of different companies and communities. And I got to spend Friday and Saturday working with four groups on their emerging coworking spaces from all over Minnesota. Specifically, there were people from Ely (10 Below), International Falls (Ballan’s iSpace), Redwood Falls and Hutchinson. (Redwood Falls and Hutchinson are about to emerge.)

We were at a coworking startup bootcamp hosted/led by Betsy Bonnema from Workup (coworking space) in Willmar. Almost all of them had some connection with Blandin, either through broadband or the leadership training. 

I’m tempted to tell you everything about the bootcamp and the attendees because despite the fact that I had to give up row 7 tickets to Janet Jackson to be there – it was awesome and I’m now excited for the world of coworking in Minnesota and the impact coworking could have on community vitality and quality of life here. I’ll try to hold back.

We started with intros to the communities and coworking spaces:

International Falls – they have a furniture store that is morphing into a working space with a planned opening of Oct 1. (I visited there last month.) They serve a remote community bordering Canada. It’s a tourism area and paper mill. They have a community college and health care. The opportunity came up just when former furniture store owner, Patti, decided retirement wasn’t for her.

Hutchinson – is known as Minnesota’s manufacturing city because so many locals work in manufacturing. Their economic development team wants to work with people to understand that there are options outside of a 4-year degree. They want to work with younger students to talk about 2-year degrees, entrepreneurship and other roads. They have a place in mind but haven’t started building out a space yet. 

Ely – is a destination city. They are a Gateway to the BWCA. They have horrible broadband. So they set up 10 Below a year ago. They already have 78 members, but most are visitors who are able to extend vacations or relax more because they can get a little work done in town. They would like to expand in size and use.

Redwood Falls – They want to build out to smaller communities, to attract people to/back to Redwood Falls. They haven’t begun building their space but they have ideas and goals. Childcare is another issue in their community – maybe this is a solution.

International Look at Coworking

We heard from world class (and international) coworking practitioners (from Serbia and Chicago) via video conference. Fascinating to see how the world of coworking has exploded. How people can work from anywhere and even plan coworkations. These are vacations where you work from a very remote location – like Bali. You might work on solitary pursuits all morning – then enjoy a communal lunch or check out the local sights in the afternoon.

We learned that coworking is a lifestyle, a way to facilitate the work-life balance by embracing it. We also learned about options for sponsorship in coworking spaces. There are revenue streams beyond the business person using your space. Their employers or best customers might sponsor them. Or you might invite local corporations or business services to sponsor a conference room, coffee stand or other feature in the space.

What do Coworking Members Want?

Five of Betsy’s members from Workup spoke about why they joined and what they liked about being part of a coworking group. One was a remote worker whose employer was based in Minneapolis. Workup provided the broadband and place without distractions. Someone else found the space inspired creativity. For someone else, the space was closer to customers than his other office and so it was a good place to start a day of customer visits. People enjoyed having space for client meetings. One snuck into work during football games to watch the games on the big screens. They loved it. Someone brought his students here.

That led to the recognition that coworking spaces suit younger workers. They aren’t used to traditional office spaces and they may never need to be.

Members enjoyed the programming too. The opportunity to connect with other members and the human touch with Betsy making connections where they made sense.

What does each community want from coworking?

Each of the attendees talked about the goals for their spaces.

What are the goals for the #coworkingspace in Hutchinson?

  • Entrepreneurial ecosystem
  • Community – bring in young people
  • Reveal local talents
  • Make downtown more vibrant
  • Offer more options

What are the goals for the #coworkingspace in Redwood Falls?

  • Better sustained relationships
  • Increased collaboration
  • Service as trusted resources for entrepreneurs, business owners
  • Outlet for creativity
  • Continue to be relevant

What are the goals for the #coworkingspace in Ely?

  • Be self-sustaining
  • Encourage more members (maybe double to 150)
  • Get more local members

What are the goals for the #coworkingspace in International Falls?

  • Make the city more marketable
  • Allow for more business starts
  • More collaboration
  • Be relevant

We also learned more about the ins and outs of the business – like the financials. It was a very full day and then we did it all over again the next day.

Day Two: All About Branding

It’s tough to put day two into writing. While day one was all about learning about coworking and talking about your community – day two started out talking about ourselves. Each attendee talked through their personal why to get to the business why to the brand to the story.

Personal why to Business why to Brand to Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 

We talked about what we were like as kids and what lit our spark back then and brought that up to the future to figuring out what we believe to be true and how that sparks us. Below is a video that talks through some of the ideas and some pictures of the whiteboard discussion. I want to add that it was time really well spent; perhaps not as valuable to read.

In the end each coworking space walked out with a vision of who they want to be. At one point we laughed at how it might have seem easier to work together to create a template that everyone could use – easier but not as valuable. Each community is different. Each coworking owner/manager is different. But they all share a desire to help their communities thrive by providing space, opportunity, networking and support to local entrepreneurs and business. In that the discussions reminded me of many broadband discussions I’ve seen in communities. And I can see how a coworking space could be the cornerstone of a community broadband plan. The space wins when local business wins and vice versa.

Rep. Angie Craig awarded National Farmers Union Golden Triangle Award

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Sun this Week reports…

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Eagan, recently received the National Farmers Union Golden Triangle Award for her work to support Minnesota’s family farmers. The award, which was presented by the Minnesota Farmers Union, is given to members of Congress who have dedicated their time in Congress to supporting family farmers.

And the connection to broadband…

She has also secured additional funding for rural broadband and the Rural Energy For America Program and the ReConnect Rural Broadband Program to improve the quality of life in Greater Minnesota.

Telemedicine Saves Almost $4K Per Diabetic Annually

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People are always looking for these fast facts. This is a good one. Broadband World News reports…

Telehealth can save rural diabetes patients almost $4,000 per year, according to a pilot program sponsored by broadband infrastructure finance firm CoBank.

The Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to cap Universal Service Funds (USF) prompted a flurry of comments from organizations ranging from operators to libraries, schools to healthcare providers. It also generated input from CoBank, which works with a number of smaller and regional operators looking to finance infrastructure deployments.

Here are some of the specifics…

“The first pilot concludes that rural patients with Type 2 diabetes can reduce federal healthcare costs by up to $3,855 per patient, per year using telehealth,” Tyree said in the letter.

Senator Smith checks out broadband in Madelia (Watonwan County)

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The Madelia Times Messenger reports on a recent visit from Senator Tina Smith…

Brent Christensen from Christensen Communications Company and Karla Angus, Madelia Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, were Smith’s hosts for the afternoon and brought the senator through Madelia’s downtown. They filled her in on the town’s history, talked about the many thriving businesses in Madelia’s downtown – as well as throughout the community – and explained what is being done here to expand broadband high-speed internet access and to bring people and businesses to town.

Smith met with Krystal Hernandez and toured her two businesses: F!esta Market and La Plaza F!esta. The group stopped by Hope & Faith Floral & Gifts, and Smith spoke with owner Ryan Visher about his downtown store as well as his online business. Smith toured Christensen Communications Company and learned about the efforts to get broadband to everyone, not just in Madelia, but all the surrounding communities and to those who live in the outlying areas. Then, Smith spent some time at the Madelia Theater, learning about the fascinating history of the theater. Smith loved that people here have an historic theater where they can watch a first rate movie at a more-than-affordable price. The tour ended at the Chamber of Commerce office, where the group sat down and talked about the day, Smith’s mission and Madelia.

Opportunity: start a Girls Who Code Club in your area

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I saw this opportunity in the MN State Library Services newsletter. I’m not sure if it’s only for libraries but if you’re not a library, this is a really good opportunity to partner with one…

State Library Services is partnering with Girls Who Code (GWC) this year to bring free computer science learning opportunities to your community. Girls Who Code Clubs are free after-school programs for girls in grades 3-5 or 6-12. Participants will join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models and use computer science to change the world. Please note, this program targets, but is not limited to, girls. Participants not only learn hard coding skills and computational thinking, but they’ll also learn project management skills, collaboration, bravery, resilience, how to positively impact their community, and so much more.

When you start a GWC Club, you’ll gain access to free resources, flexible plug-and-play curriculum, funding opportunities, ongoing support, alumni opportunities for your young learners, and more! There’s no computer science experience needed to get started; GWC is there for you every step of the way. Apply now with the brief Clubs Application through our partnership, or learn more about the program at the next live 30-minute webinar! Webinars are scheduled weekly Sept. through Nov. 2019.

Sen Klobuchar staff visits Bemidji to talk about broadband, infrastructure and housing

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OK sixth community visit in two days on my stint following Senator Klobuchar’s staff as they talk about broadband, infrastructure and housing – mission accomplished. Again there were about two dozen people in the room. Lots of County/ City staff, some elected officials and providers (broadband, infrastructure and housing).

I have archived the whole meeting but only took notes on broadband…

Cell coverage is not great for 4G. Often we hit areas where we actually are making international calls.

Most of the following comments come from (or in regard to) Red Lake reservation. We’re in Beltrami, which is well served with broadband but the issue here is cell coverage as you’ll see from the various comments:

We have one carrier and two towers to serve the whole reservation. Two weeks ago a fiber cut knocked out our service. I had to drive 35 miles to use my phone.

When the state awarded FirstNet, I was surprised to see the AT&T got the contract. They have no coverage here. We laughed at the maps here. 20 miles away from Bemidji – you will not get AT&T so there are several people who use 2 phones. It really impacts public safety. So you can imagine police called to rural areas are left off the grid for long portions of that drive.

We need more towers.

You need fiber to feed the towers. Paul Bunyan provides services to Red Lake band and we can get on the Gigazone. That’s great but cell coverage is terrible.

A lot of Red Lake relies on cell phones, not landlines and when those don’t work they’re in trouble. Especially for 911.