Tag Archives: American Connection Corps

Land O’Lakes continues to work to bring better broadband to rural areas

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It’s great to see Minnesota’s own Land O’Lakes getting recognition for their continued work on the expanding broadband to rural areas. Fierce Telecom profiled their work…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 22.3% of Americans in rural areas lack coverage from fixed terrestrial 25/3 Mbps broadband, as compared to only 1.5% of Americans in urban areas – a gap that was deeply felt during the COVID pandemic and continues to widen as more business, education and healthcare rely on connectivity.

During the height of COVID, Land O’Lakes expedited its budding plans to help close the broadband access gap in rural America, said Tina May, VP of rural services.

As a cooperative owned by around 1,700 farmers, Land O’Lakes is situated in over 10,000 rural communities in the U.S., touching about half of the harvested acres in the country.

They mentioned their member-drive, COVID-inspired, Wi-Fi hotspots for local residents…

In 2020 Land O’Lakes collaborated with local partners in rural, low-access areas to set up free Wi-Fi in parking lots. One of those partners, Tractor Supply Company, still offers Wi-Fi in some of its locations. …

While not all Land O’Lakes’ COVID-era Wi-Fi spots are up and functioning anymore (“in a post-COVID environment, it wasn’t as necessary,” May said), the ACP still has free, public Wi-Fi available at more than 3,000 locations across the U.S.

Land O’Lakes has a map of those locations on its website.

They mention the American Connection Project and Lead for America…

As part of the ACP, Land O’Lakes set up the American Connection Project Policy Coalition, a 175-member coalition of businesses and advocates. According to May, the coalition had a hand in the passing of the $65 billion Bipartisan infrastructure Bill of November 2021.

Led in conjunction with Lead for America (LFA), the ACP in April 2021 also set up American Connection Corps, an ACP fellowship connecting locals to their hometown broadband efforts for a two-year paid program. During the program fellows are set up with local offices and taught skills such as grant writing, advocacy and community organizing.

And the American Connection Corps…

The American Connection Corps has paired up with a number of state broadband offices, many of which were set up in preparation for BEAD allocations. Land O’Lakes will be graduating its first 50 fellows soon, May said, and has a new cohort ready to start in August – which will include 105 fellows across 34 states.

So far, fellows belonging to the program have won 88 grants totaling over $45 million, with more than 50 permanent broadband infrastructure installations completed. One fellow in Gage County, Nebraska was responsible for organizing a $11 million grant for his community.

What is the American Connection Corps? And what do they do?

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The Farmer posted a nice article on the American Connection Corps (ACC). I have had an opportunity to work with ACC; they are impressive and energetic and doing great work in the community. The Farmer reports…

ACC specifically focuses on supporting its fellowship program that places young adults in rural areas to work alongside local community leaders on broadband development, digital access and digital literacy.

ACC falls under the umbrella of Lead for America, co-founded in 2018 by four young college-educated adults interested in returning to and revitalizing their home communities. One of the cofounders, Benya Kraus Beacom, returned to her family’s sixth generation farm near Waseca, Minn., in 2019. Once considering a career in international relations, Beacom redirected her interests after her college junior year, when she spent the summer at home. …

Beacom reached out to Tina May, Land O’Lakes Inc. vice president of rural services, who shared similar interests in small community development. The co-op also had been working to improve digital connectivity in rural communities. They decided to pilot a cohort, and in August 2021, along with the Mayo Clinic, Midwest Dairy and Scoular, placed six ACC fellows in Redwood and Ottertail counties, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe community, the East Iron Range and the cities of Warroad and Fairmont.

Today, ACC has 250 fellows across 40 states.

What do they do?

When fellows start working in a community, their focus is threefold — on broadband development, digital access and digital literacy. They work at coordinating all providers in the area, obtain accurate digital maps, work with engineering firms to determine fiber needed, and engage with the community, Beacom explains.

What do they do in Redwood County? Led by Patrick Garry…

The county’s largest project currently underway, referred to as the “Cadillac Project,” looks to serve 30% of the county with fiber. The $4.4 million project pools the county’s American Rescue Plan funds, internet provider contributions and the state’s Border-to-Border Grant. Population-wise, it serves 1,870 structures making up eight cities.

What do they do in Ottertail Count? Led by Carter Grupp…

ACC fellow Carter Grupp, based in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, has an impressive resume of accomplishments in his first year, too. He has helped establish 10 Zoom conferencing rooms and built an app to use them. He developed STEM curriculum and kits for three county libraries. He promoted a speed testing campaign to get real data on how his community was being served by internet service providers.

And more…

Closest to his heart these days is promoting computer science as a potential career to high school students — his second pilot project. Grupp teamed with Luke Heine, who works for Microsoft and last year, held the first remote statewide youth computer science training program — the Northland Hackathon. The educational event teaches youth how to code, design their own apps and websites, and showcases career opportunities with companies such as Meta, TikTok or Microsoft. Last year, more than 30 high schools participated virtually. The event in 2023 is set for April 23.