The Timber Jay reports on a debate between third-term Rep. Rob Ecklund, DFL- International Falls, and his challenger, Thomas Manninen in District O3A, including a strong mention of Ecklund’s work in broadband…

Ecklund, as he has done throughout his tenure in the Legislature, emphasized the importance of expanding broadband connectivity to rural parts of the state. “I believe that providing broadband is the true new economy of the north,” he said. “Every city in the state has an empty industrial park. We’re all fighting to get industry here, but if we bring true border-to-border broadband to every house in the district, just like rural electricity was in the 1950s, that’s where we’ll see the boom in jobs.”
Ecklund said that people are looking for alternatives to life in urban areas and that northern Minnesota is looking increasingly attractive, provided there is broadband capability.