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Sabine County, TX

Hemphill, TX – Sabine County, Texas now has an action plan to make way for greater technology use across the community and pave the way for a brighter economic future. The Technology Action Plan was unveiled as part of Sabine County’s participation in the Connected Community Engagement Program through the Connected Texas initiative. Fifteen Texas communities are currently involved in some stage of the Connected program.

The occasion was marked in June with a public event at the Sabine County Courthouse in Hemphill. Sabine County community champion and Deep East Texas Council of Governments representative Veronica Thomas expressed excitement with the plan’s detailed actions for the future.

“Receiving this Connected Technology Action Plan is the first step in the right direction for the future of Sabine County,” said Thomas. “This plan provides us with clear options and specific steps to take our community into the technology age. The Internet is incredibly valuable for every subject you can imagine and it is open 24 hours a day. Almost every college, government organization, library, association, and many businesses are on the World Wide Web. The residents and businesses of Sabine County should have equal access to the global economy, education, and all the other countless benefits that quality high-speed Internet allows. Hopefully now, we are on our way.”

Participating in the Connected program means Sabine County has gone through an extensive assessment of its overall broadband and technology innovation. The Technology Action Plan sets general community-wide broadband connectivity requirements to be worked towards that will support economic development and residential quality of life. Sabine County’s top five goals from the new plan are to apply to USDA for broadband expansion in the community, identify and expand wireless hotspots in the community, perform an analysis of local policies and ordinances, distribute digital literacy content to residents and business owners, and facilitate a technology summit for the region.

“This Connected Technology Action Plan is an outline for the future success and prosperity of Sabine County,” said Connected Texas Executive Director Don Shirley. “County leaders are working to ensure Sabine County is ready to benefit from all the economic and lifestyle opportunities that the digital age provides. It’s all part of Texas’ solid plans for future growth.”

The Connected program is part of the Connected Texas initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce NTIA State Broadband Initiative (SBI) program. Connected Texas is working to facilitate the access, adoption, and use of technology throughout the state to create a better business environment, more effective community and economic development, improved healthcare, more efficient government, enhanced education, and improved quality of life. Residents are encouraged to get involved by joining their local Connected technology team and using the free Every Community Online program offered by Connected Texas to get training in computer and Internet skills which makes them eligible for discounted computers and home Internet service.