NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION WILL HOST BROADBAND AWARENESS MEETING

Bemidji, MN – June 6, 2014—The Northwest Minnesota Foundation will host a broadband awareness meeting with Senator Matt Schmit of Red Wing to follow up on discussions from a 2013 meeting. The goal is to help move Minnesota forward in reaching its broadband goal - providing 10 Mbps to every home in Minnesota by 2015. “One of the key takeaways from our last meeting included the urgent need for additional capital to spur on new infrastructure investments and expand access,” Senator Schmit said. “Carrying forth the good ideas and momentum from the listening tour, the 2014 legislature spent a fair amount of time discussing broadband.

“As you may have heard,” he added, “a new ‘Border-to-Border Broadband’ matching grant fund was created with an initial appropriation of $20 million. The Department of Employment and Economic Development will administer this fund, and I expect more detailed information will follow over the summer regarding the application timeline and eligibility criteria.”

The next step, according to Senator Schmit, is meeting the state speed goals and being a leader in broadband access by adopting the $20 million down payment on the fund to be a sustained and engaged effort.

The public is invited to help further discussion about preparation for the grant program by joining one of several scheduled meetings with Senator Schmit. The public is also urged to contact their own legislators to attend the local meetings and become more informed on this important rural Minnesota issue.

Join us June 11, 2014 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, 201 3rd St. NW, downtown Bemidji. Please RSVP to Barb Lien, barbl@nwmf.org or call 218/759-6520.

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation is a public, charitable foundation serving 12 counties of Northwest Minnesota by investing resources, facilitating collaboration and promoting philanthropy.