MN Broadband Conference 2019: Blandin Foundation

1. Le Sueur
County
Broadband
Planning
APRIL 2018 TO TODAY

2. How did the Le Sueur
county initiative start?

3. OUR BEAUTIFUL FARMHOUSE WITH MY OFFICE
LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD TO FIBER BUT IN FRONTIER PHONE AREA

4. I LIVE ON THE LINE
FRONTIER TELEPHONE TERRITORY

5. How we got from there
to here….

6. * 3 FIBER PROVIDERS * 4 MOBILE PROVIDERS
* 4 DSL PROVIDERS * 2 SATELLITE PROVIDERS
* 5 FIXED WIRELESS PROVIDERS

7. L E S U E U R C O U N T Y D E M O G R A P H I C S
J U S T S O U T H O F T H E M E T R O — R U R A L !
F A R M S , S M A L L T O W N S , S M A L L B U S I N E S S E S ,
L A R G E R T O W N S I N C L U D E H A L F O F N E W P R A G U E A N D C I T Y O F L E S U E U R
2 7 , 7 0 3 R E S I D E N T S 2 0 1 0

9. April4,2018 RegionNineBroadbandSummit
May15, 2018 BillColemanpresentationtoLeSueurCountyBoard
May30, 2018 Blandingrantsubmission
June2018 BlandinprovidesLeSueurCountywithbroadbandconsultation
July2018 Contactkeyleadersto formLeSueurCountyBroadbandCoalition
August2018 Meetmeetmeetmeetincludingprovidermeeting
Sept2018 CommunitySurvey250 responses
Oct2018 BlandinConference
Nov2018 Discussionsaboutmovingaheadwithfeasibilitystudy
Dec2018 LeSueurCountryboardapprovesmovingaheadandapplyingforBlandinmatch
Jan2019 BlandinapprovalsignedcontracthiringFinley
Feb2019 TestifiedatSenatehearingonbroadband
March 2019 Legislativework,Broadbandday,metwith2 representativesand1 senator
April2019 Reviewofstudy
July2019 providermeetings
July30 2019 BecommandJaguarsubmitlettersto MNforplanninggrants
August2019 providernegotiations,LeSueurCountyboardcommitmentto financialsupport
August2019 townshipmeetings
Sept2019 Whatnextforplanning?????Staytunedmoretocome
LET THE PLANNING BEGIN
MAY 2018 TO OCTOBER 8, 2019

10. LE SUEUR COUNTY BROADBAND COALITION MEMBERS AT JUNE
2019 FDA RURAL BROADBAND CONFERENCE

11. REPRESENTATIVE TODD LIPPERT, 4 OF THE 14 TOWNSHIPS
BROADBAND DAY AT CAPITAL 2019

12. 2019 LE SUEUR COUNTY APPLICATIONS
BROADBAND EXPANSION

13. BEV COMM APPLICATION LANESBURGH 382HH, DERRYNANE 125 HH, LEXINGTON 46HH,
MONTGOMERY 14HH TOWNSHIPS 567 HH TOTAL, FINANCIAL MATCH OF COUNTY AND
TOWNSHIP FUNDS

14. JAGUAR APPLICATION
LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP 90HH

15. >Unanimous support of county board and township boards
>With completion & opening of new jail took they took this on too
>Dr. John King, my commissioner partnered throughout
>County administrator with terrific background of understanding the issue and
the need, IT department leadership
>terrific support from Le Sueur County Broadband Coalition made up of libraries,
schools, Region 9, non-profits, businesses, MVEC electric coop, community
members
>letters of support with stories about the need
>providers willing to move into new territories
>MN broadband office availability to provide information and assistance
>BLANDIN and BILL Coleman, we wouldn’t be here without you
>2000 door knocks laid a lot of groundwork
>Bevcomm who stepped up first
PLUSES, MANY, MANY PLUSES

16. Township lines don’t match telephone districts
Most people don’t know what kind of broadband works or even what kind they have, it works or it
doesn’t, is what they understand
Economic development cities yes, but the in-between needs mapping and supports
Communication remains the biggest challenge
Count everyone’s $, state local federal the consumer
Most folks feel hopeless and angry on the subject of broadband, many have one provider only
LESSONS LEARNED

17. > Next steps—more non city economic development mapping
> Next steps for broadband fiber
> Bringing together county wide economic development partners
>cities have economic development staff and chambers of commerce
>in 2019 application we have international businesses/nat’l businesses that will benefit
>current map shows those only those with commercial property tax classification
>MN Extension Center for Community viability—connecting entrepreneurial communities
conference?
> Other providers interest? Challenges in more areas with more providers
> MN DEED
> Farming community with uncertain futures
NEXT STEPS

18. He said he learned from successful communities that
they have a “high density of leaders without
authority.” These are the people who believe in their
communities and do what they can, he says. In
Lancaster, he learned that “any idea you suggest, you
have to be ready to do. You, yourself.”
TOM FRIEDMAN
U OF M HUMPHREY SCHOOL
RESILIENT COMMUNITIES