MPSC: Mecosta County Becomes Sixth Michigan Community to Earn "Connected" Broadband Status, Michigan Continues to Lead Nation

Contact:  Judy Palnau, 517-241-3323
Agency:  Michigan Public Service Commission  

September 25, 2013 –The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today commended Mecosta County for becoming the sixth community in Michigan – and the 11th in the nation – to be certified as a “connected” community that has developed a broadband and technology plan to expand broadband access, adoption and use. Mecosta County joins Charlevoix, Antrim and St. Clair, Roscommon and Livingston counties to earn this distinction in Michigan.

“Michigan continues to lead the nation in the number of communities that are aggressively pursuing the opportunities that expanded broadband brings,” said MPSC Chairman John D. Quackenbush. “As a ‘connected’ community, Mecosta County has demonstrated it has in place a concrete technology plan to attract more and better broadband to the area.”

Mecosta County’s broadband action plan has identified four priority projects: developing a broadband awareness program focused on agricultural businesses; developing digital literacy and low-cost broadband programs; expanding wireless hotspots in the community; and hosting website and social media classes for local businesses.

Connect Michigan’s Community Engagement Program guides communities through an assessment of their overall broadband and technology innovation using criteria that its parent organization – Connected Nation – has set as a part of a “community certification” model. The program helps train regional team leaders and supports the formation of community planning teams made up of various sector representatives.

The certification process involves reviewing the technology landscape, developing regional partnerships, establishing local teams, and conducting a thorough community assessment of broadband access, adoption and use.

Other Michigan communities are working with Connect Michigan toward the Connected SM certification, including the Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development Commission; the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission; and the counties of Barry, Clare, Delta, Gladwin, Marquette, Osceola, Oscoda, and Wexford, among others. Several others have formed teams or have indicated interest.

“Mecosta County joins an elite group of Michigan communities that have completed the broadband certification process,” Quackenbush added. “These communities understand that their success includes access to reliable high-speech networks, digital literacy of residents and the use of online resources locally for business, government, and leisure.”

Connect Michigan is a public-private partnership between the Michigan Public Service Commission and Connected Nation to work with local governments, businesses, and citizens in the goal of increasing broadband access, adoption and use.

Connect Michigan is sponsoring a Michigan Broadband Conference on Thurs., Oct. 24, in East Lansing that will bring together community leaders from education, libraries, economic development, local government, healthcare, and technology sectors to share and learn cross-collaborative best practices for expanding broadband and technology access, adoption, and use and move Michigan to the forefront of the digital economy.

The MPSC has issued a consumer tips sheet on broadband availability in Michigan and other helpful information.

The MPSC is an agency within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

For more information about LARA, please visit www.michigan.gov/lara. Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/michiganLARA, “Like” us on Facebook or find us on YouTube www.youtube.com/michiganLARA.

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