Eight entities in Cook County have found creative uses for $100,000 of Blandin Foundation grant funding. The money is intended to help the community figure out how it can make good use of high-speed Internet infrastructure coming down the pike through federal stimulus dollars.
A memo to the county board from Cook County Information Systems Director Danna MacKenzie gives some background to this opportunity: “On April 13, 2010 the board authorized Cook County to serve as fiscal agent for $100,000 in grant funding from the Blandin Foundation, and they designated the Fiber Optic Commission to oversee the project.
“The program is called Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC). The purpose of the program is to foster sustainable use and adoption of broadband in order to help create technologically and economically vital rural communities.”
Elements of the program include demonstration projects, training for businesses and citizens on how to make effective use of broadband, and events intended to help the community understand how it can make use of the new technology.
The Fiber Optic Commission steering committee overseeing the grant project received nine applications. It awarded $80,400 for the eight projects that were awarded grant funding and, as recommended by Blandin, is reserving the rest— $19,600–for administration and other activities such as educational events, materials and marketing.
The funded projects are as follows:
. Boreal Access ($27,000)
Building a foundation for an online replacement of the PAC-13 local TV station.
. Cook County Higher Education ($10,000)
Expanding its computer lab to at least eight workstations and hosting educational
events and trainings.
. Cook County Historical Society ($5,000)
Putting parts of their collection, including photographs and oral histories, online.
. Cook County Visitors Bureau ($4,000)
Creating a mobile version of its website and the local entertainment calendar of events.
. Grand Marais Public Library ($6,300)
Enabling the public to access the Internet through eight mobile devices.
. ISD 166 ($7,400)
Equipping the high school gym with the equipment needed to livestream events
including basketball games, band concerts, and commencement.
. Sawtooth Mountain Clinic ($13,500)
Developing a system of communicating with patients online to do things like schedule
appointments and complete intake forms and using social media to broadcast healthrelated information.
. WTIP ($7,200)
Expanding video content on its website and working with other agencies to produce
that content.
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