Bringing Broadband to Rural Communities and Regions

1. Broadband: Regional Collaboration
October 20, 2020
NADO ATC Conference

2. Mid-Columbia Region

3. CEDS: Broadband
Broadband is essential to providing
economic opportunities
throughout the Mid-Columbia
region….Enhancing broadband
capacity for the region will enhance
economic opportunities and
support more resilient and
networked communities

4. Challenges

5. Opportunities

6. Community Engagement Model
• Form community work group—think broadly
• Aggregate community demand
• Explore assets, creative partnerships, funding opp.
• Work with local stakeholders, ISPs to support investment

7. Case Study:
Maupin
Result: Fiber to the Home Network, publicly owned
Key Takeaways:
• Demand aggregation to tell a story
• Collaborative approach with public/private partnership
• Local champions are critical
• Persistence pays off!

8. Case Study:
Sherman
County
Result: Hybrid Wireless, Fiber to the Home Network
Key Takeaways:
• Leverage existing assets
• Clear vision supports accessing funding

9. Case Study:
Hotspots for
Telemedicine
Result: Cell based hotspots available for telehealth, education
during harvest to support migrant and seasonal farm workers in
response to COVID-19
Key Takeaways:
• Think about partners who might not be traditional for
economic development—this is on everyone’s mind right
now!
• Creative solutions
Full disclosure: Bragging about work spearheaded by OSU
Extension, Incident Command for Wasco County, and our
migrant education provider!

10. Case Study:
WebWorks:
Anywhere!
Result: Businesses learning from businesses
Key Takeaways:
• Not necessarily intuitive to our business owners
• Opportunity for them to build networks through training
engagement
• Working with partners to leverage strengths is as important
for training as for infrastructure!

11. Regional Coordination

12. Key Take Aways for
Communities
• Incorporate broadband into regional
and local strategies for community
and economic development
• Think creatively—and broadly—
about partnerships.
• Be ready to take advantage of
resources when they are available
• Make space for a regional
conversation!

13. Carrie Pipinich
Senior Project Manager
carrie@mcedd.org
Questions?

14. REGIONAL BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE
CEDS, Hotspots & Collaboration
October 20, 2020
Jim Baldwin, Executive Director
Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission

15. FROM SOUP TO
NUTS

21. Questions
Contact Information
Email – jimbaldwin@bvu.net
Phone – 276-889-1778