The Fillmore County Journal posts an account from the local leader of a Digital Connection Committee, Daniel Wilson…

The State of Minnesota recently passed a state budget that will include up to $215 million over the next several years to expand internet access. With an additional $650 million coming from the federal government, there will be a lot of resources dedicated to solving the problem of broadband access. To make sure that this money is spent on the communities that need it the most, the MN Dept of Economic Expansion has set up Digital Connection Committees to receive input from the most impacted communities. I organized a committee in southern Winona County, and we had a great conversation with rural residents that live without access to broadband internet.

The group discussed the burden of living without the internet in our digital world. The lack of rural broadband creates significant hurdles to new farmers and new businesses. Rural residents are unable to take remote work jobs that they are qualified for. And the lack of broadband can decrease the property value for rural homes as this has now become an essential service for home buyers. In many cases, farms without cell service rely on spotty satellite internet which puts them at greater risk of being unable to connect to emergency services during periods of low bandwidth (storms, power outages, and cloudy days).