A Community-wide Effort to Bring Google Fiber to Austin

Committee Contacts:
Sandy Forstner, Austin Area Chamber of Commerce, 437-4561
John Garry, Development Corporation of Austin, 433-9495
Gail Dennison, The Hormel Institute, 437-9604
Craig Hoium, City of Austin, 437-9952
Dr. Ron Langrell, Riverland Community College, 433-0530
John Alberts, Austin Public Schools, 433-0400
Aaron Keenan, Austin Medical Center, 434-1090
Tammy Kritzer, Austin Medical Center, 434-1284

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GoogleAustinmn.com, a broad-based community group focused on bringing ultra-high speed Internet to Austin, is asking for the public’s immediate support. Austin is making a bid to bring the world’s largest fiber network to our community. Google is seeking proposals from around the country from communities willing to serve as trial locations for an ultra-high speed broadband network. This network will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, an over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-home connection.

Residents, business leaders and organizations are encouraged to join the community effort by submitting comments of support on the newly created web site www.googleaustinmn.com by Friday, March 26.

The City of Austin, led by Community Development Director Craig Hoium, is submitting the formal application for the community. But comprehensive, broad-based community support of the effort is essential.

“We are asking residents, former residents, friends of residents, businesses, organizations, anyone with a connection to Austin to endorse this grassroots effort by submitting comments on our web site: www.googleaustinmn.com,” said committee member Sandy Forstner, executive director of the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce. “We will be competing with thousands of communities across the country for this exciting, monumental opportunity to place our community on the cutting edge of the information technology revolution. And we believe that Austin is a perfect fit for Google’s model community because of our size, location and diversity of residents and businesses.”

Construction of the fiber network, which would serve every home and business within the community, would be paid entirely by search engine giant Google. The company recently announced plans to establish gigabit-per-second network in a handful of communities to learn more as to how to make Internet access better and faster for everyone.

Committee member Shawn Riley, technology leader at Austin Medical Center, says the applications of such a system are virtually endless.

“This will make all communications system faster, cheaper and more efficient for everyone in the community,” said Riley. “It will connect us to the world in a way we can now only imagine. It’s a leap in Internet technology equivalent to moving transportation from horse and buggy days to high speed rail service, overnight. The speed of this technology is such that you could literally download all the information in the Library of Congress in a matter of minutes.”

Successful communities will have a huge competitive advantage for economic development by having access to an affordable, ultra-high speed system that is currently unavailable anywhere in the world.

“There will be huge advantages for selected communities to attract new residents and businesses,” said committee member John Garry, executive director of the Development Corporation of Austin. “And huge advantages to residents and businesses that already live here. It will improve everyone’s quality of life and provide us with a great opportunity to further enhance our economic base, employment opportunities and business mix.”

Committee members feel Austin is uniquely positioned to be successful in the application. Google has not clearly defined the perfect model community, but many believe they are looking for attributes apparent in our community. Examples cited by committee members include:
• We are a small, rural community with diverse demographics and an interesting mix of businesses, both large and small.
• Public utilities are city-owned, a big plus for speedy, seamless development.
• We are home to Hormel Foods Corporation, an international company located in a rural area.
• The Hormel Institute is a world-renown research facility with connections throughout the world.
• Austin Medical Center is part of the Mayo Clinic, recognized around the world as a leader in health care and research.
• Established partnerships through the Hormel Institute that include the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, IBM, Hormel Foods and the Hormel Foundation.
• An educational system that boasts similar partnerships that include the University of Minnesota, Riverland Community College, public and private school systems.

“There are many, many more advantages for our community to be sure,” said Forstner. “Too many, in fact, for one committee to think of or for one news article to list. That is why this effort needs the entire community to become involved. Google is looking for community support, community enthusiasm, and your ideas as to how this fiber system will improve your quality of life, your performance on the job, and our community as a whole. Be creative. Be active. Go to www.googleaustin mn.com today and help us tell our story.”