Being a rural community and facing the challenges of bringing broadband Internet services to residents, the Clare County Broadband Network Group partnered with Connect Michigan and the Connected program. We are developing the Clare County Technology Action Plan to further foster adoption and education for better broadband use and understanding here in Clare County.

The communities served by the regional planning commission have benefited from the Connected Community Engagement Program. The program provided us with direct assistance from a staff member, innovative research, access to providers, broadband GIS mapping, and numerous other services and resources that were necessary and critical to the development of our county Technology Action Plans.

Manchester was recently recognized as an “Iowa Connected Community” and I was part of the team that gathered the information and created the plan for future improvements. To the best of my knowledge this was the first time that anyone in our area has made an effort to gather information about the existing broadband access and to think about what will be needed for the future. I knew very little about the availability and scope of the internet services within our community as we entered thi…

Connected Nation’s community outreach and education programs have proven to be highly effective in Michigan’s continued strides toward more broadband connectivity and ultimately our state’s economic prosperity.

Connected Community certification says to potential investors that Clarksville-Montgomery County understands today’s global business environment and is committed to providing the tools necessary for industries to build, grow and create jobs in our community. An impartial assessment of our digital infrastructure validates the high quality of resources available in our area.

We knew we had a problem, but it sat unaddressed for a number of years. We didn’t address it because we didn’t know how to start, where to go for help and besides most of our peers (rural counties) had the same issue. This is where Connected came in.

We thought we’d benefit from finding out where we stood. The whole point of the certification process is to identify strengths and weaknesses. Frankly, even if you didn’t get to the certification, you would still get a blueprint for moving forward to eliminate those weaknesses.

St. Clair County was the third in Michigan and the sixth in the nation to obtain Connected certification. Along with certification, the county worked collaboratively on developing the St. Clair County Technology Action Plan. Our Action Plan is a roadmap for our broadband future. It details our current status and clearly outlines steps to take in order to fill the broadband gaps in the county. We are currently addressing the recommendations laid out in the plan. An unexpected benefit to our broad…

Over the past thirteen months, Cherokee County has been working closely with Connected in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the broadband system in our county. I have been very impressed with their professionalism, with the depth of their knowledge base, the data they have at their disposal, and their research capability. The experience they bring from working with other communities that are striving to expand broadband infrastructure and usage has been invaluable to us.

Broadband access is a crucial component of economic development. The Connected community certification program will facilitate the building of a comprehensive action plan for developing a technology-ready community.