The four counties and city will be identifying how to increase broadband access and adoption in the New River Valley over the next 7 months. As broadband availability in the region grows and more homes and community centers have internet service, making the most of that access is an important goal in improving the region’s quality of life and economic vitality. This plan will help build the roadmap for meeting that goal.
With funding from the Department of Housing and Community Development's State Digital Equity Act Planning Grant Program, a plan that identifies existing assets, outstanding needs and implementation strategies to address those identified needs will be developed in support of future grant applications and investment opportunities.
Broadband access can improve the quality of life for residents in education, health, community services and expand markets, talent pools, and efficiencies for businesses. But how and what is needed is best identified by community members and organizations that serve them. The community will be invited to provide their input and ideas through stakeholder meetings and online engagement channels on what they need and how they need it to better access broadband and its opportunities.
A website for the project will be going live this month. For now, you can find out more about the Digital Opportunity Plan by contacting Christy Straight at cstraight@nrvrc.org.