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 or call the Redwood Coast Connect office at 707-826-3919.