Access, Affordability & Education

• There’s a local guy who is a national speaker on ADA and technology is you need anything on that – we had him talk Oct 2021 (Belo Cipriani)
• promote better use of broadband with programs like 218 Relocate (helped/recruited 22 families to move to Bemidji for tech jobs)
• fun Blandin write up of Chisago Lakes including their “virtual manufacturing tours to expand students’ exposure to technology and manufacturing as a career choice in the time of COVID.”
• fun Blandinwrite up of Le Sueur including a look at private (Blandin) and federal funding “Le Sueur County maximized the impact of their BBC resources by utilizing CARES funding to implement projects identified through the BBC process.”
• fun Blandin write up of Otter Tail including ” a number of projects to redress equity issues that came to light due to the COVID pandemic. For example, the county distributed one hundred Tech Packs to residents impacted by the pandemic.”
• fun Blandin write up of White Earth Nation including an elder lending program to provide devices and mobile hotspot access to older residents on an as-needed basis, with recipients being allowed to check out the devices for several weeks at a time. 

Mapping and Speed Goals

• The Future of American Farming Demands Broadband – “Establish future-proof performance standards: To meet the growing demand among farmers for both upstream and downstream speeds, networks must be capable of 100/100 Mbps service.”

Unserved, Underserved, & Funding

• Benya did a nice presentation on the Regional Meetings for the Broadband Task Force last month. There might be some slides there that are helpful – the last slide might be a good one to grab. (You can see the video of whole meeting online.)
• Possible quote on difficulty navigating current funding opportunities from a listening session with Tina Smith… (see video of whole meeting)
  “A major concern for all who plan to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for state grant matches is whether it will be allowed since the state plans to fund those broadband grants with its own American Rescue Plan Act allocation. Right now there are worries that current statutes — specifically the Stafford Act, which covers how the federal government assists state and local governments after a disaster or emergency — would not allow that.
  “If there is not a waiver of that somehow, projects across the country are going to fall apart,” said Michelle Marotzke, economic development professional with the Mid-Minnesota Development Commission.
• Possible quote on safety issues of no broadband/cell coverage from Amy Klobuchar listening session…
  “Down here we have a lot tourism which takes people into the beautiful parts of our bluff country,” Johnson said. “It’s a difficult area to serve [broadband] . . . when we have people visiting we need them to be safe but in Whalan, they have no way to get signal.”
  Klobuchar responded by illustrating the need for greater connectivity. “Snowmobilers, people who in the middle of winter, that’s very scary too when something goes wrong and their cell phone won’t work . . . that’s why we’re pushing for this emergency funding,” she said.

PPTs with good quotes/images/ideas: