Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Allegheny County, MD is in the far northwest corner of the state, about a 2.5 hour drive from Washington.
Locating business there has been tough due to the lack or reliable telecommunications. The county is solving this problem with a $4.5 million investment intelecommunications infrastructure. The funding is coming mostly from grants.
Partners in the sytem include the board of education, library system, economic development, Western Maryland legislative delegation, Western Maryland Economic Development Task Force, Cumberland city officials and Allegany County commissioners.
One county commissioner outlines the logic behind the investment: "President Eisenhower started the interstate highway system and we know what that infrastructure has meant to this country and how we were left out. It was 25 years before we ever got connected to it.
"The transportation infrastructure of a knowledge-based world has a different transportation infrastructure system called high-speed telecommunications system. This time we are not going to be left behind, to wait 25 years to compete in the new knowledge-based world,"
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Building telecommunications infrastructure in rural Maryland
