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GOSHEN – The hand-made signs held by the children in front of the Town Hall told the story: “Happy Birthday, Gov. Patrick. Go Broadband.” “Thank you Gov. Patrick. Broadband = Finished Homework, from Aaron and Sam.” And “Kids Need Love, Safety + Broadband.” Almost a year to the day after Governor Deval Patrick announced his plan to launch a Massachusetts Broadband Institute, he traveled to Goshen to sign the law creating the new $40 million initiative in poignant fashion. It was, according to State Senator Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst), the first time in history a sitting governor in Massachusetts had officially visited Goshen, a hill-town community west of Northampton along Route 9. Rosenberg, who introduced Governor Patrick, praised the governor’s leadership. “It’s a promise made, and a promise kept,” he said. “The new law,” Rosenberg continued, “is the result of the effectiveness of Governor Deval Patrick’s leadership.” For Goshen residents Jeff Blair and Catherine Sands, and their two children, Maya, 11, and Scarlet, 9, the governor’s signing of the new law creating the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) was much more than a symbolic action; it carried with it the promise that within three years, they will no longer have to live in the antiquated dial-up world, forced to drive down to Meekins Library in the neighboring town of Williamsburg in order to connect to high-speed Internet.Broadband Institute In addition to communities in western Massachusetts, the new Institute will also be working with Open Cape to develop new infrastructure to improve the “inadequate” broadband services on Cape Cod.
Many of the residents in western Massachusetts have waited more than a decade for the promise of broadband to be delivered; it will still take a little more time to turn the new initiative into a working reality. “When people call tomorrow and ask, ‘When am I getting it?’ I’m going to have to explain it’s going to take some time,” said Sharon Ferry, the business manager for Berkshire Connect, one of the local coalitions which have played a critical leadership role in advocating for affordable broadband services for 11 years. Rolf Benzian, the chair of the Chesterfield broadband board, who sat in a chair beneath the array of TV cameras to watch the proceedings, concurred with Ferry. “It’s alright to wait on this a bit,” he said. “It takes money to bring it about, especially in the unserved areas,” he said. “In the end, everyone will be connected to fiber optic for broadband, TV and telephone.” Among the immediate tasks for the new Massachusetts Broadband Institute will be to hire a director, create a new nine-member governing board appointed by the governor, and develop protocols. Mitchell Adams, the executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, promised the assembled crowd, “We’re going to do this the right way,” he said.A Ceremony To Remember “This is good news,” Governor Deval Patrick proclaimed. “This is really good news!” All the dignitaries crowded onto the small stage behind him nodded in agreement. Included were Mass. Department of Telecommunications and Cable Commissioner Sharon E. Gillett, who was singled out for praise by the governor; U.S. Rep. John Olver, whose 1st Congressional District covers almost all of the under-served communities, Secretary Daniel O’Connell and Assistant Secretary Stan McGee from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Don Dubendorf, chair of Berkshire Connect and chair of the governing board of MTC’s John Adams Innovation Institute; Pat Larkin, director of MTC’s John Adams Innovation Institute; State Senator Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst), State Representative Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington), and State Representative Ellen Story (D-Amherst). Congressman Olver praised Governor Patrick, saying that this initiative would serve as a national model for how to improve the economic futures for rural communities throughout the nation. “I cannot exaggerate the evidence that the credit for this accomplishment goes to your leadership,” he said. He also cited the governor’s leadership in the initiative to build out the line of fiber optic cable along the Route 91 Corridor. Representative Kulik, who spoke last, made sure to praise the collaborative work of everyone – especially two members of the state’s legislative delegation who were unable to attend the signing ceremony – State Representative Dan Bosley (D- North Adams), who serves as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, and State Senator Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield). Further, Kulik said that as the only legislator in Massachusetts whose home is dependent on using a dial-up connection, he looked forward to the day when that was no longer the case. Then, as a bevy of children watched intently, Gov. Patrick signed the new law, and the crowd broke into “Happy Birthday.” Appropriately, the spot in front of Town Hall where the ceremony took place was one of the few hot spots in town where residents could drive with their laptops and hook up to high-speed Internet. For more information about the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and Incentive Fund, go to http://masstech.org/broadband/index.html. |
