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For 66 years Sawbill Outfitters has been off-grid, producing electricity by solar, wind, propane and diesel generation, but that recently changed when Arrowhead Cooperative got electrical and fiber to the remote business.
“I’m sure we’ll continue to realize many benefits to our new access to power, but the first obvious one is just how quiet it is,” Dan Shirley wrote on his Sawbill Outfitters blog. Dan and his wife Clare purchased the resort seven years ago from her parents Bill and Cindy Hansen. The outfitter business was started by Clare’s grandparents, Frank and Mary Alice Hansen.
“For 2022, our goal was to get cable installed to three areas.,” said Arrowhead CEO John Twiest. Those areas were Sawbill Lake, Cascade Lake and Two Island Lake. “We were successful at Two Island and Sawbill,” noted Twiest.
While 70 percent of the county has access to Broadband, 30 percent of outlying areas had none. That changed in November 2021 when Arrowhead received $18.4 million in federal funds that will be used over the next ten years to expand high-speed broadband services in the county.
Those funds came from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) $9.2 billion that will be awarded to broadband service providers who cover 5.22 million rural residences and businesses. The money was distributed through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and those dollars will finance projects in 49 states.
Minnesota was awarded $408 million from the program.
Twiest said if all goes well, Arrowhead will install both broadband and electric utilities to places that currently have access to neither, completing a dream started in 2010.
A contractor from Eveleth, Minnesota was hired to do the work this fall. “We contracted with Gulbranson Excavating, said Twiest. “This is a contractor that has done this type of work for us for a number of years. They were able to install 12 miles of cable in about eight weeks. Other areas of the county will not be so easy.”
When asked how much it cost to do the work this fall Twiest responded, “We do not have the final tally on the total costs yet. Our crews have finished the electric portion, but our fiber crews are currently splicing and getting the fiber ready to be lit.” As for costs to the recipients who received Broadband, “There was no cost for the broadband to be installed to the building, that is completely covered by the RDOF grant,” John said, adding, “There is also no cost to bring the fiber from outside the building into the building itself. Arrowhead Broadband continues to offer that part of the installation for free as the subscriber receives service from us. “There will be some costs associated with getting the electricity to the building, but that will vary by location. Yes, Sawbill Outfitters did incur some cost for the electrical hook up, as did a new member on Two Island.”
Plans for the future
“Our initial plans are for a six year build out totaling about 120 miles,” Twiest said. “As we firm up plans for 2023, we will be reaching out to folks in those areas and let them know we are coming through. Our main goal for next year (year 2) is to install the utilities up the Arrowhead Trail to McFarland Lake. The operations department has been busy securing materials, and working on permits with the county, state and federal agencies. Everything we install is underground as well, so it makes our construction season pretty short.
“The RDOF auction was based on identified structures in the county, meaning roofs and addresses. If there is an address, but there is not a structure on the property, it was not included in the funding process. That does not necessarily mean it won’t be available, it just means that we did not receive monies allocated for that address. Our goal has always been to reach as much of the population of the county as possible. As we continue to develop our construction plans year over year, we are hopeful that the dream of “100%”, may turn into a reality.
“I think Sawbill Outfitters summed it up best. “This is going to significantly alter our lives and business in a way that we are very excited for. “And that is the cooperative mission!”
Some history
In 2009 Arrowhead Cooperative received $11.3 million to connect broadband to its utility customers who wanted it. Early on, understanding the need for Broadband in Cook County, the county levied a one percent Cook County sales tax. A portion of that was to help fund a Broadband project. When Arrowhead Cooperative was awarded the grant, they soon realized that they would need an additional four million dollars to ensure all members of the community connected to the electric grid would be included in the bailout, including the City of Grand Marais. When the work was completed, Cook County became one of the first rural counties to receive high-speed Internet in the state of Minnesota.
In 2010, John Twiest, then an Operation Manager/ lineman at Arrowhead Cooperative, was put in charge of installing broadband to its customers. The City of Grand Marais was excluded from the Arrowhead Electric project, but the county paid $4 million to invest in broadband for the city.
When asked about the initial build-out, John responded, “The original project took five years to complete. We took advantage of existing infrastructure and had a small army of contractors in the area to complete the build-out. That grant originally required us to have the entire system built out in three years. It was extended to five years when the USDA realized that these projects strain the supply chains and created large delays in material delivery.
“The recent FCC auction is based on a ten-year time frame with the required build-out goals. Our plans, if awarded, will be to have the areas built out in six years. Due to the nature of the construction, we will be sending the scope of work out for bids.”
It took five years of digging through (mostly) bedrock to lay the high-speed connection, but when Arrowhead Cooperative was done, about 70 percent of the county residents were hooked up to broadband.
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