[RTC List] Redwood Coast Connect

[Tina Nerat]

If you didn't catch the newspapers and TV news this week, here's the press
release. This project is in full swing. The web site is up now at
http://redwoodcoastconnect.humboldt.edu
<http://redwoodcoastconnect.humboldt.edu/> . You can sign up to receive
surveys or for information about community meetings (click on Learn More).
Tina

 

Attention editors/news directors:

 

Owing to a computer error, recipients outside Humboldt County may not have
received the previous transmission of this release this morning.

 

HSU News & Information

707/826-5105/psm7001 at humboldt.edu

 

For NEWS, click on http://news.humboldt.edu <http://news.humboldt.edu/> 

 

HSU Gets $500,000 to Close Digital Divide

 

Eureka - Humboldt State University (HSU), in partnership with Redwood Coast
Rural Action (RCRA), has been awarded $500,000 for a prototype project to
attract high-speed broadband service to every Redwood Coast community in the
four-county region.

     HSU is one of the first institutions to be financed by the California
Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), which is providing a $250,000 match in
partnership with a consortium of regional fund providers including the
Humboldt Area Foundation, the Headwaters Fund, the Mel and Grace McLean
Foundation, the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission, the counties
themselves and other supporters of the Redwood Coast Initiative.

     SunneWright McPeak, President and CEO of the CETF, told a press
conference at the Aquatic Center Oct. 2 that high-speed Internet service can
simultaneously revive the North Coast and preserve its heritage, without
homogenizing the region.

     "We are looking to this region to be the model, the prototype for all
of California," McPeak said. The project will model the regional demand for
broadband service, present the findings to providers and will be used to
attract investment to establish access. The eyes of California are on the
Redwood Coast, McPeak said, and people know "this is where we're doing the
trailblazing." 

     Because the four counties are home to a host of small markets, it is
essential to aggregate those markets and work with high-speed Internet
providers to try to connect every single Redwood community, said Peter
Pennekamp, Executive Director of the Humboldt Area Foundation.

     HSU President Rollin Richmond emphasized that the University's role in
the analysis of broadband needs is part of a broad and continuing effort to
involve students in key rural issues as they pursue higher education.

     In 2004, RCRA, in collaboration with the Redwood Technology Consortium
and the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission, made broadband a top
priority and convened a collaborative of all sectors in the region, from
business and environment to ranching, Indian tribes, agricultural workers
and educators.

     The Redwood Coast counties-Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity and Del
Norte-will be the first in the state to prototype a project that
demonstrates and records significant and growing demand for broadband
services in rural areas.

     The vision is to secure ubiquitous broadband access for rural
populations. The goal is to lay the foundation to attract the deployment of
broadband infrastructure on the North Coast. The project will help identify
and aggregate demand that attracts private providers to un-served and
underserved communities. Telecommunications companies will be engaged about
preferred forms of infrastructure. 

     The project also will build on and accelerate regional conversations
about broadband expansion. The project's findings will be used to create a
standard set of municipal broadband and infrastructure policies.

     Expanded broadband accessibility would increase opportunities for
business development, jobs, and access to quality health care and education.

     "What we've really learned from the three years that we've [RCRA] been
working on broadband issues is that we can't do it alone," said Connie
Stewart, senior field representative for Assemblywoman Patty Berg. "One
county cannot make a change. We have to band together to make our voices
strong enough to attract the kind of income and technology that we all need
to make our community economically sustainable. Our goal is 'Broadband for
All, at a Reasonable Price.'"

     HSU and its partners made the case to the CETF on a variety of grounds.
They urged that the four counties' 260,000 residents constitute the entire
stewardship of one of the state's most prominent bioregions and that the
Redwood Coast is an ideal testing ground for intelligent and responsible
rural development. They also made the case that the region's population is
aging faster than residents statewide and the four counties are becoming
poorer and more diverse. These demographic trends impose mounting demands on
health services and other support networks, whose dependence on broadband
will continue to expand at a rapid pace.     

     For more information about the broadband project, go to
http://redwoodcoastconnect.humboldt.edu/ or call the Redwood Coast Connect
office at 707-826-3919.

 

HSU News & Information

707/826-5105/psm7001 at humboldt.edu

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://redwoodtech.org/pipermail/list_redwoodtech.org/attachments/20071004/2e9df3e3/attachment.html