The Forth Utility
Faster Internet Now
STARK COUNTY BROADBAND TASK TEAM
STARK COUNTY BROADBAND TASK TEAM
130 MILES OF BROADBAND
GIGABIT FIBER
NO TAXPAYER FUNDING REQUIRED
GIGABIT FIBER
NO TAXPAYER FUNDING REQUIRED
Are We Ready for the 21st Century?
The Stark County Broadband Task Team is a group of the willing; a team of interested volunteers that represent small and large employers, non-profits and governments. Since 2014 we have been studying what possibilities higher-speed broadband might bring to our community.
Why broadband? Why now? A common thread among our team members and the interests we represent is the dissatisfaction with the status-quo. Greater Stark County is falling behind its peers in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States in terms of educational attainment, household income, retention of high-school graduates and overall prosperity.
History would suggest that by looking at previous adoption cycles like the electrication of the United States, those communities that make prudent investments in emerging utilities can reap large benefits.
Unarguably the Internet has become an essential component of everyday life / work and is no longer considered a luxury. Due to history, regulations and industry behavior, the United States is woefully behind other industrial nations in terms of broadband speeds, capacity and access. Providing a competitive broadband marketplace with the minimum of 1 gigabit per second to our residential neighbors and businesses will provide our community with an invaluable asset that is an essential feedstock for 21st century innovation.
Some Things We Believe In
Unless we change the aspirations of our communities to not just compete but to win, we will lose our most gifted
The rise of the app economy and the massive leveraging of cloud computing has put a greater emphasis on persistent, ubiquitous high-speed networks
The Internet will eventually consume all other forms of communication. The four dimensions of service will be availability, price, reliability and speed.
Artificial intelligence and robotics will supplement human labor and increase the rate of structural change in the world economy
Employment growth will be in work that is done at a distance
Communities without Internet choice will not prosper
Broadband is the fourth utility; We think of it as an opportunity for our community to go forth and prosper, hence the forth utility
The Stark County Broadband Task Team is a group of the willing; a team of interested volunteers that represent small and large employers, non-profits and governments. Since 2014 we have been studying what possibilities higher-speed broadband might bring to our community.
Why broadband? Why now? A common thread among our team members and the interests we represent is the dissatisfaction with the status-quo. Greater Stark County is falling behind its peers in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States in terms of educational attainment, household income, retention of high-school graduates and overall prosperity.
History would suggest that by looking at previous adoption cycles like the electrication of the United States, those communities that make prudent investments in emerging utilities can reap large benefits.
Unarguably the Internet has become an essential component of everyday life / work and is no longer considered a luxury. Due to history, regulations and industry behavior, the United States is woefully behind other industrial nations in terms of broadband speeds, capacity and access. Providing a competitive broadband marketplace with the minimum of 1 gigabit per second to our residential neighbors and businesses will provide our community with an invaluable asset that is an essential feedstock for 21st century innovation.
Some Things We Believe In
Unless we change the aspirations of our communities to not just compete but to win, we will lose our most gifted
The rise of the app economy and the massive leveraging of cloud computing has put a greater emphasis on persistent, ubiquitous high-speed networks
The Internet will eventually consume all other forms of communication. The four dimensions of service will be availability, price, reliability and speed.
Artificial intelligence and robotics will supplement human labor and increase the rate of structural change in the world economy
Employment growth will be in work that is done at a distance
Communities without Internet choice will not prosper
Broadband is the fourth utility; We think of it as an opportunity for our community to go forth and prosper, hence the forth utility
Stark County
OLDER, POORER, FEWER
2000 to 2013 - A Clarion Signal for Change
Using data from the US Census Bureau for the period of 2000 to 2013, Stark County area has three apparent trends that go beyond troublesome. These are trends that must be addressed or the quality of life in this community will be further impacted to point of marginalization and community institutions as we know them will be diminished in capacity, reach and aspiration.
Using data from the US Census Bureau for the period of 2000 to 2013, Stark County area has three apparent trends that go beyond troublesome. These are trends that must be addressed or the quality of life in this community will be further impacted to point of marginalization and community institutions as we know them will be diminished in capacity, reach and aspiration.
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In the period between 2000 and 2013, the percentage of the population of Stark County residents rose from 15.1% to 16.6% a rise of nearly 10%. In comparison, Summit County to our north has only 14% of their population over the age of 65.
This is not to indicate that our seniors are bad, but rather we have been unable to retain the approximate 2000 high school seniors that graduate each year. |
9.9% Rise in Population over Age 65
Percentage of Stark County at or older than 65
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Northeast Ohio Regional Improvement Corporation
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