By Amanda Murphy
Connect Ohio had the privilege of joining the Ohio Appalachian Task Force meeting hosted by the Corporation for Ohio Appalachia Development (COAD) Wednesday, February 8, at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville. Executive Director Stu Johnson discussed the current state of broadband and technology adoption for Appalachian Ohio. Johnson opened the presentation by asking the nearly twenty attendees if they had broadband service at home. Four attendees had no home Internet service and two had service that didn’t meet their needs, which parallels the situation for the entire Ohio Appalachia area. According to Connect Ohio’s recent Technology Barriers and Adoption in Rural Appalachian Ohio report, 14 counties in Ohio remain under 85 percent broadband availability – and all 14 counties are located in Appalachia Ohio
Only 55 percent of adults in the Appalachia area subscribe to home broadband service, significantly lower than the state average of 66 percent. Also, one in three children do not have broadband service at home. This adoption gap has significant implications for the economic, educational, and quality of life status of Ohioans.
In conjunction with the Governor’s Office of Appalachia and Chesapeake Energy, Connect Ohio is administering the Connect Appalachia Broadband Initiative task force, comprised of state and local stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The task force has already begun taking immediate action to overcome connectivity barriers and digital literacy gaps in the Appalachia region, holding their inaugural meeting in January.
The Connect Appalachia Broadband Initiative task force intends to pull Appalachia Ohio to within state and national standards in broadband adoption within 24 months by responding to requests for assistance from community leaders, private industry, Internet providers, public agencies, and others on broadband projects. The task force is identifying and coordinating resources required to facilitate the availability of affordable broadband access and to drive adoption through equipment procurement assistance, as well as through free basic computer training through Connect Ohio’s Every Citizen Online program.
Current Task Force Members:
Task Force Co-Chairpersons
Jason Wilson, Director, Governor’s Office on Appalachia
Keith Fuller, Director of Corporate Development, Chesapeake Energy
Stu Johnson, Executive Director, Connect Ohio
Project Manager
Bart Winegar, Technical Outreach Manager, Connect Ohio
Committees and Committee Chairs
Government Affairs –
Co-Chair – Katrina Flory, Executive Administrator, Ohio Office of Information Technology
Co-Chair – Marianne Townsend, Chief, Telecommunications, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
Jeanne Wilson, Sr. Appalachian Regional Representative, Office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Commerce –
Chair – Paul D. Prater, Community Affairs Manager, AEP Ohio & WV
Community Leaders –
Chair- Tom Wheaton, Carroll County Commissioner
Gregory R. Carver, Columbiana County Knox Township Trustee Chairman
Education –
Chair – Joy Padgett, Director of Government Relations and Grants, Central Ohio Technical
College
Finance –
Chair – David Nadler, SVP / Chief Risk Officer, Ohio Valley Bank
John Glazer, Director, TechGROWTH Ohio
Non-Profit –
Chair- Cara Dingus Brook, President/CEO, The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
Robin Kinny, Energy Committee Chair for Rural Action, Internet Committee member of Central Appalachia Regional Network
Ronald Rees, Executive Director, Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development (COAD)
Providers –
Chair – Ken Engstrom, Fiber Sales Manager, Horizon Telecom
Ed Kozelek, Regional VP of Government Affairs, Time Warner Cable – CABLE Internet Service
Provider
David Weddell, CEO, Cueband – Wireless Internet Service Provider
Dave Davidson, SVP/GM of Ohio, Frontier Communications – Local Exchange Carrier
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