North Florida Broadband
Authority Receives $30,000,0000 Grant
Columbia County, FL (posted Feb
19, 2010 • 07:10am)
Jeff Hendry
Thanks
to the dedicated commitment of the local governments who
comprise the
North
Florida Broadband Authority, the initiative and
leadership of the North Florida Economic Development
Partnership and its Board of Directors, and the
financial support of Enterprise Florida and the
Governor’s Office of Trade, Tourism and Economic
Development (OTTED) I’m pleased to tell you that we’ve
been awarded more than $30 million to develop and
enhance our broadband services.
As I and others involved in this effort have stated
repeatedly, I can think of no more important investment
for this region than Broadband and high-speed
connectivity infrastructure—the infrastructure of the
21st Century. It has the potential to create unique and
significant opportunities for economic development, to
significantly improve and advance education, health
care, and public safety standards, and enhance the
quality of life for communities and residents throughout
the region.
Folks from outside our region (and state) may not be
able to fully appreciate the magnitude of what has taken
place or how historic and strong our commitment is and
has been throughout this entire project. For our board
members and the communities they work in and lead, the
requirement to trust and believe, act fast, develop and
adopt an interlocal agreement, and ultimately gain
approval from all 22 local governments was nothing short
of historic. The fact this was done from start to finish
in three weeks stands as a model and example to
communities across Florida.
The leaders of our health care, education, business
and other sectors and our representatives in Tallahassee
and Washington were all supportive and were asked to
provide that support in writing. Again, we garnered more
than 70 letters of support.
Government Services Group provided professional
support and guidance creating what is not only a winning
proposal, but among the largest awards in all stimulus
grants to Florida. With 2200 proposals submitted from
across the U.S., ours was one of nine awarded to this
point. The Florida Institute of Government at Florida
State University also provided tireless time, energy,
and resources to make this a reality.
