Blandin Broadband Community Program

October 4, 2016

• Economic Development Strategic Plan identified that Countywide Broadband was an issue

• 2014 local survey indicated 60% of the total respondents felt the current telecommunication services in the area put them in a competitive disadvantage

• We applied to become a BBC and the Sherburne County Broadband Coalition was formed

• Over 20 Letters of Support within a week• Focused on Public/Private partnerships

Sherburne County Broadband Coalition

Albert Kangas Palmer WirelessLaura Kangas Palmer WirelessBarb Chaffee Central MN Jobs and TrainingBrian Kamman Sherburne County IT DepartmentAmanda Othoudt Elk River Economic Development DirectorCharlie Blesener ISD 728Dan Weber Sherburne County EDDebbi Rydberg Elk River Chamber of CommerceGeorge Wallin Wallin AdvisementGreg Pruszinske City of Becker AdministratorJanet Barlage Sherburne County Veterans ServicesJeannette Burkhardt Becker Library (GRRL)Joe Samek ISD 728Jolene Foss Princeton Community DevelopmentPaul Solsrud CNSKevin Thompson Data SuccessKyle Breffle Emergency Services DirectorMike Brubaker Sherburne County History CenterRick Hendrickson Becker City CouncilScott Zettervall Local ResidentLori Amborn The Amborn GroupRaeanne Danielowski Big Lake MayorColleen Eddy City of Elk RiverMicheal Brust Guardian Angels

Committee Members

Number one priority was to highlight the need and educate the decision makers on the importance of broadband to the local community

Planning Process

This led to the Community Outreach GrantMany other ideas were brought forwardEach was discussed and a group vote was

taken on all grant submissions

Planning Process (cont)

Community Wide Support – over 65 community leaders attended community vision meeting

Consistent Engagement – Bi-Monthly Committee meetings were always well attended

Elected Official Support – State, County, City, Township

The Blandin Broadband Program established relationships that went beyond Broadband.

The local press helped us publicize successes. We need to focus on upload numbers. Download

speed is for consumption but upload speed is production.

Key Findings

Local legislators became very involved – two separate town halls were held

Providers had varying degrees of interest in the program

Fiber exists – however not always accessibleLarge Demand for People for PC’s computers.

Surprises

Community wide Broadband Outreach program created Year Round Wireless installed at the Becker Athletic Complex Year Round Wireless installed at Lake Side Park Year Round Wireless installed at Rivers Edge Park Fiber Install to the Sherburne County History Center Extended computer lab hours in the Elk River School District Chromebooks were purchased by Spectrum High School for their

community learning curriculum A fiber install connected Elk City Hall to the Zimmerman City Hall

and Fire Department

Activities & Projects

• We hired a marketing firm to:• Create a marketing “Brand” for our group• Develop a webpage• Create Educational Materials• Write educational bi-weekly broadband related blogs• Created promotional items to hand out at various events

• Our group then:• Contacted our Federal, State and Local Elected Officials• Created a Facebook Page • Created an Educational Video Broadband Access• Attended Various Community Events & local meetings• Posted the educational blogs to the Sherband and

Facebook webpages

Community Outreach Process

Community Outreach - Branding

Attended Community Events

. Webpage – Sherband Webpage

Facebook Page: Sherband

Public Wi-Fi Projects

"We are excited to be able to provide our residents a public space to access high speed wireless internet!” - Big Lake Mayor Raeanne Danielowski

Rivers Edge Commons is located in downtown Elk River at the junction of the Elk River and Mississippi Rivers. The park was constructed in 2007 and features a hillside performance venue and a street level plaza with a popular in-grade fountain that is both a focal point and interactive play element.

The park is a successful connection to the river and has strengthened downtown’s long term viability. The commons is home to a successful summer concert series, movies in the park, and special events that bring over 20,000 people to downtown annually. The venue’s overwhelming popularity has led to performance seating regularly filling to capacity and beyond.

The city has received most of the equipment with the exception of a couple of items.  The fiber contractors have installed conduit running from the city’s fiber ring to the location of

the network cabinet onsite.  Once the general and electrical contractors have installed the cabinet and electrical outlets, the

fiber will be installed and spliced into the city fiber ring.  As soon as the cabinet and power is complete we can finish the wifi installation. Construction is planned to be completed by November. 

“The installation of Wi Fi will greatly enhance the experience of coming downtown, improving the viability of the park, access to the river, connecting more residents to the internet and enable the city’s Cable Channel to televise the Riverfront Concert Series live” Mayor John Dietz

Rivers Edge Park WiFi Project

Fiber Installed to the facility Free Community WiFi Public Terminals added Veteran Outreach Program implemented Enhanced meeting room capabilities

Quotes “The Blandin Broadband grant allowed the Sherburne History Center to increase their internet

speed and access. The grant also allowed us to install wifi throughout the building. This greater access allows a significant increase in the use of our building and resources. With greater internet access, more groups and agencies are using our building for meetings. The Sherburne County Health and Human Services is using our building on almost a weekly basis. The Sherburne County Veterans Services Officer, using one of our meeting rooms, is able to access records and provide improved services to his clients. The county 4-H group, student groups, the Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District, professional museum groups and county Master Gardeners are just a few examples of the groups that have used our building for programs and events. In the month of August 2016, we hosted 16 different meetings and events in our building. This is nearly double the number of meetings we hosted 2 years ago before the Blandin Broadband grant so dramatically improved our resources.” - Mike Brubaker, Executive Director

“ the addition of upgraded connectivity services  at the Sherburne History center have had an immediate direct positive impact, almost doubling outreach work productivity and capabilities to the county veteran & family customers that we assist on a weekly basis!” – Bruce Price, Veteran Service Officer

History Center Project

Extended Computer Lab Hours in the Elk River School District

60 Chromebooks were purchased for Spectrum HS students as part of their Community Education Curriculum – Tech Tutors at the local Senior Center

Educational Projects

2014 Broadband Grant Award

• We had a very committed group that followed through on their assigned tasks.

• The Sherburne County Feasibility Study was a direct result of our work with the Blandin Broadband Community Program.

• Countywide relationships have developed and partnerships will be on-going.

• Three Border to Border grant applications will be submitted and numerous more were discussed with future potential.

Reflections & Additional Opportunities

• Progress is being made but Sherburne County still ranks 49th statewide at the 25/3 goal.

• Sherburne County now donates all their expired equipment to People for PC’s

• The Blandin Foundation has been a tremendous resource and we are a better community due to this program.

Reflections (Cont)