The poverty rate is triple the national average in the 1,400-person town of Richland, a rural community starving for high-speed internet. The lack of connectivity creates a huge hurdle for kids to study at home or parents to apply for jobs, reported Politically Georgia.
And this issue is front and center in the Georgia governor’s race between candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, who are proposing vastly different plans to revitalize rural economies; Abrams is focusing on healthcare while Kemp says broadband is his top priority. Local officials and community leaders, along with experts trying to help revitalize Richland, are as divided about the best way forward as the plans touted by Abrams and Kemp, reported Politically Georgia.
In a plea for broadband, Erik Vonk, owner of Richland Rum said, “The number of times that we had communication outages in Richland is frequent. It’s utterly primitive. An emerging business like ours suffers.”
Many think broadband could entice more employers to move their businesses — and jobs — to southwest Georgia. “If you’re trying to bring business into a small area,” said Rossi Ross, chairman of Richland’s downtown development authority, “broadband makes you contend for some kinds of industry, including distribution centers.”
According to Kemp, he’ll create an “economic development strike team” that would partner with local communities to boost broadband. By investing in broadband, he has said, cities such as Richland can become attractive to new employers, which will, in turn, boost the economy and lead to more healthcare resources. While Abrams acknowledged the importance of bringing high-speed internet to rural Georgia, she is calling for the state’s Transportation Department to study the expansion of broadband along rights-of-way, reported Politically Georgia. Comments? Email us.
October 18, 2018
