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Seeing RED, Seeing Green

Category:  Planning > Business Case

"The problem is that some people are still chasing smokestacks, but that buffalo hunt is over," said Joe Max Williams, who as executive director of the South Central Tennessee Development District tries to save jobs in 13 rural counties and lure more. "Manufacturing jobs are leaving us, and if we want to replace them we've got to have high-speed Internet access. That's what potential businesses looking to relocate ask all the time: 'Have you got broadband, can you get me a fast connection to the Internet?' " the veteran economic development adviser said.

Broadband means jobs, money to small towns This is a great first-hand description of why cities in our heartland are looking for broadband solutions for their towns. It's about jobs, economic development, and in the end, survival. Rural Economic Development (RED) is constantly on the minds for those cities that are living on the edge, where one relocated factory can raise the local unemployment rate by double digits. It's no wonder they see green when they learn that high-speed access can be the difference between landing a new high-tech employer and having them move on to another region that does have the needed 21st Century infrastructure.

Posted on August 31, 2005 at 02:25 PM

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