Last year, Google sought proposals from communities willing to serve as trial locations for a 1 gig-a-bit-per-second, fiber-to-home Internet connection. Recently, Google announced that due to the high level of interest, the selection
of the Google Fiber city has been delayed and will occur “early this year.”
Austin is currently ranked in the top 10 in community support according
to www.fiberforall.com. We need everyone’s help to maintain or improve
this ranking!

How to help:
• Visit www.googleaustinmn.com.
• Click on the Facebook icon on the right side of the page.
• Join the Google Fiber for Austin Minnesota Facebook group. You can also post a comment of support.
• Encourage others you know to do the same! You can invite your friends on Facebook to join; click “Invite People to Join” in the top left corner of the Facebook page and send them an invitation.
Google Fiber benefits:
• Access to a system 100 times faster than currently available in most
parts of the country.
• Magnet for business investment and people interested in moving to Austin.
• Opportunity to bring a new generation of applications and resources to our
homes, workplaces, schools and institutions.
We need everyone’s help to maintain or improve this ranking!
Austin is currently ranked in the top 10
in community support.

“The Hormel Foundation is proud to endorse the We Gig It! effort to bring Google’s ultra-high speed Internet access to Austin, Minnesota. This fiber-optic network would advance the renowned work of The Hormel Institute, and would serve the Austin Medical Center, the Austin Public School District, Hormel Foods Corporation and many other organizations that are important to Austin and the Mower County area. We are excited Austin is ranked among the Top 10 cities and know this potential partnership would set our community apart and would be a critical point of difference for our wonderful community.”

R. L. Knowlton
Chairman, The Hormel Foundation
301 N. Main St.
Austin, MN 55912

Google has yet to make their decision about which cities will be taking on the Google Fiber project, and Austin Minnesota is still very interested and very committed to make sure we compete for the prize!  Where else will Google find a community that has:

• World Class Research Institute  – Hormel Institute
• World Class Medical & Innovation – Mayo Clinic Health System
• Comprehensive Primary and Post primary education system
• Fortune 500 Company home base
• Budding Entrepreneurs
• A city owned utility transmission system (great for Fiber and much more cost effective for deployment than other cities!)

Austin Minnesota!  We GIG it!

Austin Minnesota is still moving forward on GoogleFiber! Google has not yet made their decision and we are looking forward to being part of their future!

GoogleAustinmn.com

We Gig It!

Help Us Crack the Top 10!

Austin is currently ranked #12 (gunning for the top 10!) for the Google Fiber Initiative by FIBERForAll.org! That’s #12 out of nearly 1100 communities competing nationwide! Join our effort by signing up as a member of our GoogleAustinmn Facebook page, today.

We are ranked #12 (gunning for the top 10!) for the Google Fiber Initiative by FIBERForAll.org! The community is moving and mobilized and increasing our social media support as hard as we can!

Check out our jump in the past week!!

Thanks for your response to the Google RFI for a fiber for communities trial.

To acknowledge receipt we’ve generated a confirmation code for you to save to your computer.
Your confirmation code for response: City of Austin is aghmaWJlcnJmaXIUCxILQXBwbGljYXRpb24YqPKrAgw

As a citizen, parent and community volunteer I 100% support Google Fiber for Austin, MN.  Our community is unique is its diversity, employment opportunities and need for technology.

As a rural community with a major corporation headquartered here we are fortunate to have economic stability, employment opportunities, and community support.  Google Fiber would take our community to the next level and be an example for other smaller communities in the country on what can be done with technology.

Google Fiber for Austin, MN is our future.

Chris Grev

Marketing & Communications

United Way of Mower County

His very own FLIP video supporting Google Internet in Austin Minnesota

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/43da2dc3e40b08fe25257ddc867db856/video/11985755

Minnesota is a national leader in renewable energy production.  Austin is right in the center of some of the largest wind powered areas in the USA.

AUSTIN, Minn., Mar 24, 2010 — Anyone who says the Internet is no place for spam simply isn’t thinking about the right kind of SPAM(R) product. And today Hormel Foods is calling on the “SPAM(TM) army” to prove it!

The company is urging lovers of the SPAM(R) family or products everywhere to help amp up the presence of SPAM(R) products — the right kind, that is — on the Internet. Austin, Minn., the hometown to the SPAM(R) family or products is vying to become a Google Fiber City, a community willing to serve as a test bed for ultra-high-speed Internet access, so Hormel Foods is asking consumers to sign onto http://googleaustinmn.com , click on the “Nominate Austin” tab to support the hometown bid, and encourage others in their social circles to do the same. Voting ends on Friday, March 26.

“No matter where they live, lovers of the SPAM(R) family of products have a unique connection to Austin, where their favorite luncheon meat was born 73 years ago,” said Julie H. Craven, vice president for corporate communications at Hormel Foods Corporation. “Now’s the time for these fans to act as one and help us bring the SPAM(R) brand — and all of the other things Austin has to offer — to the rest of the world and vice-versa more quickly and with greater connectivity than ever before.”

Although it’s competing against much larger cities, Austin, Minn.’s diversity makes it an ideal candidate for Google’s Fiber City project. In addition to being home to Hormel Foods, the city offers a “heart-of-America” mix of large and small businesses, cutting-edge research and medical facilities, city-owned utilities and rural and agricultural interests.

To SPAM(TM) fans, though, Austin has a more important mark of distinction: It’s where 400 cans of their favorite food are produced every minute.

“We’re excited about Austin’s bid and want to give others an opportunity to be part of this movement,” Craven said. “That’s why we’re reaching out to the best fan base in the world: Who better than SPAM(R) lovers to make the Internet safe for SPAM(R) products again?!”

Dr. Tatiana Zykova

Dr. M. Saleem Bhat

Dr. Naomi Oi

Dr. Madhu Mottamal

Dr. Ann Bode

Dr. Yong Yeon Cho

Dr. Jinhui Zhang