MinnPost published a recent column from Commissioner Grove at MN Department of Employment and Economic Development about his vision to move Minnesota’s economy forward. Broadband made the priority list…

We also need to finish the job on connecting our entire state to high-speed Internet. Minnesota is home to one of the best broadband incentive programs in the country – enabling providers to serve homes that would otherwise never make sense for their bottom line. An investment of $170 million in this DEED program would, in combination with incoming federal dollars, finish bringing broadband access to all Minnesotans.

Currently, 92 percent of Minnesotans are connected to reliable broadband. This investment is particularly important for Greater Minnesota, which suffers much lower rates of connectivity than the metro. Much like rural electrification in the last century, broadband today is not a luxury but an essential part of our state’s infrastructure and vital for health, education, and economic development.