Category Archives: Get Broadband

Taking Your Business Online in New Ulm

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I just got a fun invitation to an event in New Ulm hosted by the New Ulm Get Broadband program, sponsored by the Blandin Foundation. I know we might not all be making the drive for the event but it’s nice to see what’s happening in local communities. Here it is:

TAKING YOUR BUSINESS ON-LINE
A FREE Hot Topics Breakfast on June 26

The Chamber’s New Ulm Retail Economic Development Committee (NUREDC) is presenting a Hot Topics Breakfast on the possibilities and power of getting your business On-line and In-line for future success and growth. This presentation is the public unveiling of the work being done in partnership with the Blandin Foundation’s Broadband Initiative. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about growing your new or existing business through the power of the Internet.

At this FREE breakfast, you’ll
* Discover how Chamber members can take advantage of an existing business web presence on www.newulm.com and hear about the details in the plan to update that site.
* Hear from a panel of New Ulm business owners who are currently using the Internet to promote and even sell their products and services on-line.
* Learn about a series of seminar opportunities to be held on three consecutive Tuesdays in July (Tech Tuesdays)

Tech Tuesdays are hands-on training for every stage of creating and/or maximizing your on-line presence:
* Using a template to create your website (templates to be provided).
* Learning the techniques for optimizing your website.
* Discovering the possibilities of e-commerce and how YOU can sell on-line. It’s the “store that never closes.”

Whether you are just thinking about starting a business, already are in business but do not yet have a website, are looking to enhance your existing website, or are considering increasing your “back-door” traffic through e-commerce, join us for a continental breakfast at the New Ulm Country Club — 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 26. Reservations are required; e-mail nuredc@newulmtel.net or call the Chamber at 233-4300 by Friday, June 22.

May eNews is Out

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I am pleased to report that the latest Get Broadband eNews went out this afternoon. You an read it online. It includes a list of upcoming events and some news from Get Broadband communities.

Heritage of Foley “Gets Connected”

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This is an article from Benton County, one of Blandin Foundation’s Get Broadband communities.

66 year old Judy Nybakke can now look forward to the e-mails and digital pictures she will soon receive from her 4 grandchildren living in Paso Robles, California.

“We don’t see them very often, but now I hope we can e-mail and see more pictures of them playing baseball this spring,” said Nybakke.

Milton and Judy Nybakke live at Heritage Place independent senior apartments in Foley. The Heritage of Foley Campus was awarded a technology grant to contribute to the costs for two computer stations. One station is available at the Foley Nursing Center for residents and their families to use. The second station is located at Heritage Place apartments and is available for tenants and their families.

The computers are welcomed additions to the campus. The added benefit to long-term residents, short-term residents, and apartment tenants is priceless. The computers will provide a chance to research any topic on the internet, check e-mail, play computer games, and an endless list of other functions that computers fulfill.

In addition to the grant, “Get Connected” provides the opportunity for networking within our own community. Heritage of Foley, a campus which provides many services to seniors, will also benefit from the connection made with the Foley School District.

As part of his administrative internship, 2nd grade teacher Curt Rock is working with the Foley Nursing Center and Heritage Place to pair up the tenants/residents with a Foley High School student. The students will be helping the tenants/residents with e-mail, doing research, and sending and receiving photos.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the students to build community bridges with the seniors in Foley,” says Rock. There were over 40 Foley High School students interested in participating in this program. Some students have started working with the tenants/residents and more will begin as soon as they can. Rock adds, “I see this partnership continuing into the summer and moving into the next school year with the addition of other high school students.”

Connecting Renville County to the rest of the world

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By Shelby Lindrud Staff Writer (Originally published by the Olivia Times Journal)

Annie Tepfer, the county’s “Get Broadband” Consultant, paid a visit to the Renville County Kiwanis meeting and the county HRA/EDA meeting April 19 to discuss broadband in the county and what it can do for the communities. I’m really pushing increased awareness and education,” said Tepfer.

“We have some really neat opportunities to bring education to our rural communities.”

“Get Broadband” is sponsored by the Bladin Foundation, which is running a matching funds drive. The foundation will match the funds raised by the county up to $15,000.

At the Kiwanis meeting, Tepfer and Mark Glesener demonstrated what a broadband connection could bring to Renville County.

Podcasts, which are like radio broadcasts for the web, allow people from all over the world to hear the message. “Get Broadband” is specifically aiming toward the agriculture business. Seed companies, FFA and farmers could educate interested listeners about what is happening on the farm, possibly bringing more attention and interest to Renville County.

There are also webcasts, which are video clips created and produced by individuals. Webcasts have really taken off with the help of web video sharing sites like You Tube.

All someone needs to create a webcast is a camera, a computer and a high-speed internet connection.

Like podcasts, webcasts can be about anything, from farming to schools to advertising clips. The RCW FFA is planning on taking a camera to its convention this spring and posting the clips online. Technology like webcasts would enable the school to reach out to parents and actually show them what their children are doing in school.

The “Get Broadband” program has four goals that it hopes to achieve by Dec. of 2007. The first is to increase the awareness and education about broadband and what it can do in the general community. This could include computer classes at libraries.

The second is to expand e-commerce for local businesses. An example of expanding e-commerce would be each local business having its own website connected to the city website, allowing potential visitors to see what the community has to offer. Bird Island, which has been growing its broadband presence for the past three years, is now starting to get the local businesses online.

Goal three is to get the youth of Renville County involved in developing the pod and webcasts.

“The youth can teach us about technology,” said Tepfer. The broadband program would give students a chance to become leaders in the community through podcasts.

The final goal is have wireless broadband internet access at internet cafés in each town, or at least have an access point in a public place.

This will allow everyone the chance to connect to the internet.

Broadband access is becoming easier to achieve in rural areas thanks to satellites and a growing coverage area.

With broadband access in the county, Tepfer and the rest of the “Get Broadband” task force hope to bring a better quality of life to the communities and the county’s economy.

Pre-Application Workshops for Light Speed Grant Program

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Blandin FoundationThe Blandin Foundation is pleased to announce the Pre-Application Workshop schedule for two new foundation grant programs supporting the development and use of broadband in rural communities in Minnesota. The new grant programs are:

  • The Light Speed Grant Program will provide matching funds to support project implementation of new community broadband applications, including but not limited to education and health care.
  • The Open Network Feasibility Fund will provide matching grants to communities for feasibility studies for Open Access Telecommunications Networks.

RFPs for both programs are available at Blandin Foundation.

The workshop schedule is as follows:

All workshops are scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to attend one of these sessions.

Speed of LightTuesday May 15
Southern MN Initiative Foundation offices Owatonna
(Get Directions)

Wednesday May 16
Southwest MN Initiative Foundation offices Hutchinson

Monday May 21
Blandin Foundation offices Grand Rapids
(Get Directions)

Tuesday May 22
Beltrami Electric Cooperative Bemidji
(Get Directions)

Wednesday May 23
West Central Initiative Foundation offices Fergus Falls
(Get Directions)

Thursday May 24
The Initiative Foundation offices Little Falls
(Get Directions)

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to attend one of these workshops. There is no fee, but we request that you RSVP by sending your contact information and seminar location choice to broadband@blandinfoundation.org. We encourage you to forward this announcement to your area health care and educational leadership as the Light Speed program might be just what they need to move forward on planned projects.

Please direct any questions to Bill Coleman at bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com or 651-491-2551.

Kandiyohi County Broadband Survey

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West Central TribuneThe West Central Tribune recently reported that a telephone survey is being launched in April to assess the availability and use of broadband services. (The Economic Development Commission received a $15,000 matching grant last year from the Blandin Community Foundation to undertake the project.)

The findings from the survey will help the EDC develop a strategy to address the use of technology and high-capacity Internet services. You can read more on the West Central Tribune online, although a free membership may be required.

Ely Timberjay on Iron Range Fiber Optic Project

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TimberJay Newspaper - Ely MNImagine if you could access high speed broadband in Ely, you could be working while you sit on the beach or in the ice fishing hut. (OK I wouldn’t ever really ice fish, but with broadband access to my laptop I could.)

The Timberay Newspaper covers Ely, Tower, and Cook Minnesota. They recently ran two articles about the area’s plans for a fiber optic network. Last week (Consultant: Fiber optic network offers countless uses) they noted the many opportunities that high speed broadband would bring. Yes, voice, video, and data would be easier – but broadband also brings the opportunity for new applications.

Matt Wenger, of PacketFront (previously mentioned on this blog) was in the area and shared stories of a case study from Vasteras, Sweden, which has used a similar network to transform the delivery of health care, help small businesses, and improve communications throughout the community of 80,000 households.

More recently (Politics, price tag challenge Range-wide high-speed Internet project) the newspaper got into the nitty gritty (financing) of installing and supporting a regional fiber optic network. (A total of 11 communities have signed up at this point but signing up doesn’t require a financial commitment.)

Local officials seem to like the idea but state legislators have not yet jumped onto the broadband wagon. First, there is the funding issue. The estimated cost is $49.1 million. The project is seeking $9.5 million from IRRR but will also want to approach the State legislature for $16 million. State legislators seem unconvinced at this point that there will be a return on investment.

Second, established telecommunications companies, like Qwest and Frontier, and cable television providers, oppose the idea. They do not believe that public dollars should support competition to private businesses. Like the legislators they are unsure that the investment will pay off. (You can get more details from the article.)

The article mentions that “it’s a pretty well known fact that the United States lags far behind in connectivity.” I have to say I agree and I think often the established providers can be a big part of the problem. Doing things the way we’ve been doing them isn’t working. It might be time to re-think how we do things and make some changes – with or without the established guys.

Blandin Announces New Technology Grant Program

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Get BroadbandMany communities have seen great improvements in their telecommunications infrastructure over the past five years. We’ve seen streaming video of network TV, MySpace and other international innovations that connect people globally, but in many ways we are still communicating and delivering services within our communities in the same old ways.

The Blandin Foundation designed its new Light Speed Grant Program to help local organizations make use of telecommunications network improvements to reach out in new and exciting ways. Light Speed will provide grants of up to $50,000 for communities, health care providers, schools and others to implement new broadband-intensive applications that reach out to end-users, preferably all the way to the home. Here are some examples of applications that we expect to support:

  • Real time videoconferencing from a school to homes to provide instruction to home-bound students, home-schooled students, non-traditional students or other purposes.
  • Store and forward video instruction from a school or college to a home or business.
  • Electronic medical records, including images, shared between hospitals, clinics and nursing homes within a community or region.
  • Real-time videoconferencing between a home health care provider and housebound clients.
  • Senior citizen peer support visits via videoconferencing.
  • Real time monitoring by corrections officials of persons subject to restrictions.

Bill ColemanThe RFP will be available very soon on the Blandin Foundation web site. The Foundation will also be providing details on this and another exciting new grant program at regional workshops in May. Stay tuned or contact Bill Coleman at 651-491-2551 or bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com for more information.

Why Blandin Likes Open Networks

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Get BroadbandOver the last six months or so, the Blandin Foundation has been re-investigating the best ways to approach broadband across Minnesota – especially in rural Minnesota. Last month they sent a concept paper on one promising approach – Open Networks. Below is a excerpt from the document sent to the board. I post this with the permission of the Blandin Foundation. I thought it did a great job of describing open networks and Blandin’s perspective on open networks. Continue reading →

Attack on Moorhead’s WiFi

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Blandin Get Broadband CommunitiesI’ve been combing through various local newspapers across Minnesota today to keep up on what’s happening with broadband. There is interesting news in Moorhead where the city wireless Internet service appeared to experience an attack in February this year. (Moorhead was a Round 3 Get Broadband community.)

Apparently the city’s signal was overwhelmed by the signal from a jamming device creating a Denial of Service. Court documents indicate that a “directional antennae” was being used to focus the attack. The attack was traced to a residential home; although a search produced no evidence. Cutting off power to the home did end the attack.

GoMoorhead is the name wireless network that is municipally owned and operated. They serve about 3800 individuals and businesses in the Greater Moorhead area including many at Minnesota State University Moorhead. (Visit the Post-Bulletin for more infromation.)

I tried to find some examples of other cities or communities with similar scares but didn’t come up with much. I did find some articles that I thought were interesting and related: Continue reading →

March eNews is Hot off the Presses

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We just sent out the March edition of eNews, the Blandin Foundation monthly broadband email newsletter.

Get BroadbandWith the help of Bill Coleman, we were able to track down updates from a number of the Get Broadband communities. (These are communities that are currently working to promote and support broadband in their area with financial and technical help from the Blandin Foundation.) It’s fun to see what is happening with these rural areas.

I am also happy with an interview we had with Jack Geller from the Center for Rural Policy and Development. They are currently working on a report on broadband adoption in rural Minnesota in 2006, which should come out in a month or so. Jack was generous enough to share some advance information with us. For example, the broadband adoption rate in rural Minnesota jumped nearly 12 percent last year to 39.7 percent.

Check it out – I hope you enjoy it!

Blandin Videoconference tomorrow with Matt Wenger

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Get BroadbandHere’s a last minute reminder for anyone with a little time tomorrow. Matt Wenger of PacketFront will be speaking via videoconference to the Get Broadband Community. Read the full story for details on times and places for video spots around Minnesota.

We’ll try to report back with notes from Matt’s presentation.

Continue reading →

A View of FIber from Ely

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The Ely Echo recently ran an editorial (Fiber has economic development connection) that outlines the need for broadband connectivity from an economic development perspective. The author also describes the reasons it is necessary for local government to get involved in supporting (or leading) an effort to bring broadband to a community – especially smaller, rural communities.

(Ely is a Get Broadband community.)

Blandin on Broadband
http://www.blandinonbroadband.org

Windom on MPR for FTTH

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This morning I heard a great story on Minnesota Public Radio about one of the Get Broadband communities – Windom. The news was good “…Windom sits on a state of the art fiber to home telecommunication system. Some say it’s the most powerful digital network in Minnesota, maybe even the country…”MPR does a nice job of talking about the importance of broadband in a rural community, featuring community people who use the Internet, and some who don’t, and they have posted a nice slideshow of Windom on the MPR web site.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/01/16/close_divide/

Blandin on Broadband
http://www.blandinonbroadband.org