MinnPost recently interviewed the new DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. And they asked a lot of questions about broadband…

Matt Varilek is fortunate as the new commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development to have internet that is fast enough for him to have remote meetings at home in rural Benton County.

But not everyone in Greater Minnesota has that ability, which is why delivering broadband across the state is a passion of his. It’s also a monumental task. His office will oversee the distribution of more than $750 million in state and federal funds to subsidize broadband infrastructure.

Broadband expansion is just one of several high-profile assignments DEED will be responsible for in the next few years. Another is carrying out Minnesota’s new paid family and medical leave law, which is expected to need about 400 new state workers to administer the program.

When asked about economic challenges…

… Another example that matters to all of us and where we work on it everywhere, but which has a slightly different character in Greater Minnesota, is broadband. It’s certainly a passion of ours at DEED, and it’s a passion of mine as a guy who is working in Greater Minnesota right now and only able to do my remote meetings thanks to having good broadband where I happen to live.

And broadband…

MP: I did want to ask you a broadband question. You all have an incredible amount of money coming your way to hand out from the federal government and from the Legislature. Broadly, do you have any thoughts on coming into office and having to handle hundreds of millions of dollars and finding the way to connect some of these hardest-to-reach places?

MV: It’s a fantastic situation to be in that we really have significant resources now to invest thanks to this being a bipartisan priority at the national level and then here in Minnesota as well. In fact, it’s obviously such a priority that the Legislature has established a more ambitious goal in terms of the speed that we wanna hit to consider the job accomplished. We’re excited to be doing that.

MP: The state has leaned pretty heavily into subsidizing the fiber-optic cable side of things, seeing it as more reliable and faster than some emerging technologies (that can be cheaper) like fixed wireless and satellite like Starlink. There is certainly a robust debate out there about where the state should go. Do you have a philosophy on that? Some Republicans have suggested the state buy people a Starlink subscription and be done with it.

MV: I have my opinions as someone that uses broadband, but I also am smart enough to know that there are experts who are engaged in that debate. And I always want to have my ears open to findings and reflections from those experts. But for now we’re gonna carry on with the plans as they exist under the direction of our, I think, highly regarded Office of Broadband Development.

MP: I would love to hear those opinions, even if you’re hearing from the experts, too.

MV: Well, what I’m saying is if we get findings deviating from the fiber direction that would make more sense, we will listen to that. But that’s not the direction that I’m hearing from the experts that we talk to.