Peter K. Walsh M.S.W. Mr. Walsh has a varied background including serving as the Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Winona (8 yrs), and an Associate Professor of Social Work at the College of St. Teresa (5 yrs). Mr. Walsh was the founder and president of Walsh & Associates of Winona, Inc. and BurOak Business Systems Consulting, Inc. (15 yrs.), technology system integration firms. Mr. Walsh was responsible for marketing, sales, software design and the management of the development and implementation of custom software applications for some 100 companies. Currently Mr. Walsh is a Coordinator with Home and Community Options, Inc. of Winona, MN (5 yrs.) and has experience in various aspects of the agency. Mr. Walsh has three grown daughters; he and his wife Kay are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this December.
I am pleased to offer folks the Webinar slides from today’s presentation: Walk the Talk Through Tech Applications. You can view them below or click here to download them.
I think this is a great and kinda obvious step towards getting the US up to speed on broadband. First we’ve got to know where we are, who needs help, and who is in a position to help.
The Senate was also busy…
the Senate Commerce Committee passed the Community Broadband Act, which ensures that states and public-private partnerships cannot be prevented from offering advanced telecommunications services in competition with private industry, with the caveat that if that the state regulates those competitors, it cannot favor its own service.
Again I think this is a kinda obvious step towards getting people broadband. Don’t get me wrong – I think it can be hard to do the obvious sometimes when there are so many parties so invested in different outcomes.
Ben Gould brings to Mstar more than 18 years of corporate experience with special emphasis in marketing and operations. Gould has developed numerous corporate, product, sales, and branding strategies and campaigns. His hands-on management style and strategic initiatives have taken Mstar from an Internet service provider of dial-up and DSL services to a full provider of services over fiber-to-the-home networks.
Gould started at Mstar in December of 2005. Since that time the Company has added Internet services with residential speeds up to 50Mbps for $39.95 per month; telephone services with every available feature, unlimited local and long-distance calling throughout the U.S. and Canada; and IPTV service offering more than 200 channels including high-definition, video on demand, local content channels, and support for digital video recorders. The company offers 24 X 7 support and has in excess of 16,000 subscribers.
Before joining Mstar, Gould worked for DynamicCity, Inc., as the company’s corporate vice president and chief marketing officer. While affiliated with DynamicCity, Gould was instrumental in gaining the necessary support for UTOPIA and in minimizing anti-UTOPIA legislation. Prior experience includes chief executive officer for Apollo Health, Inc., a privately held manufacturer of medical devices, where he increased revenue by 70 percent. Other experience includes working as executive vice president and chief marketing officer of iLumin Corporation, a leading provider of enterprise message management tools, and vice president of operations Innovus Corporation and multiple management positions at Novell and WordPerfect.
He has been quoted nationally in media outlets such as CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, AP online, The Industry Standard, Business 2.0, InfoWorld, eCompany Now, Inter@ctive Week, Broadband Properties and numerous other media outlets.
Universal broadband equals increased telecommuting, which in turn means less roadway demand, fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less pollution. Even if a worker telecommutes a day or two a week, it can make a real difference.
It goes on to talk about the environmental impact of cars on the road and how broadband can help reduce the need for roads. I think it makes perfect sense – but that’s of course because I have either worked entirely from home or telecommute for almost 10 years. Getting cars off the road by promoting telecommuting would have a terrific environmental impact – but almost more importantly I think it improves the quality of life for all of the people who can avoid traffic for a few days or more a week!
Rep. Juhnke believes the 2007-08 sessions are “all about the three Rs: renewables, research and resources.” Juhnke is excited about the nationwide spotlight on alternative fuels, Minnesota as a leader in biodiesel and ethanol mandates and cellulosic ethanol research and development. “Minnesota should be America’s energy leader,” says Juhnke.
Rep. Juhnke has had a keen interest in telecommunications. Having served on committees dealing with this regulatory industry over the years, he has become recognized as one of the legislative go-to’s for important initiatives. He recognizes the need for a strong back-bone infrastructure in all of Minnesota as it pertains to our future.
In 2000, the “common sense”-oriented Juhnke gained international fame on CNN World, the BBC and other nationwide media for the “Hotdish Bill,” which protected potlucks from government regulation. In 2003, he authored the “Pickle Bill” freeing small jarring operations from state health department oversight. “I seem to pick food fights,” he jests.
Rep. Juhnke and his wife Claire are proud of their son who is in the MN Army National Guard and their daughter who is currently attending to University of Minnesota-Morris. Juhnke enjoys golfing, hunting, fishing, 1970s rock & roll and acting.
Wired and inspired. That’s the mantra of Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard. Wired, because Fort Wayne is becoming one of the most technologically connected cities in America. Inspired, because Richard has been on a mission to turn city government into a lean, results-producing, customer-focused driver of an economically thriving city. Graham Richard is completing eight years of public service as mayor of Fort Wayne, the second largest city in Indiana. Richard has helped taxpayers save nearly $30 million in city government services.
Under Mayor Richard’s leadership Fort Wayne has been recognized as a high performance city. Crime is at the lowest rate in 27 years. Over $30 million has been saved using business improvement practices including Lean Six Sigma. Potholes are filled in 4 hours instead of 4 days. Permits are granted in days not weeks. The Fort Wayne Public Works Division and the Fleet Management Departments have been named as number one in the country.
Mayor Richard has received national awards for his technology leadership, including the Fiber-to-the-Home Council’s 2005 Star Awards, the Public Technology Institute’s 2006 Tech Leader Award and the 2006 KillerApp Trailblazer Awards. Mayor Richard recently completed his first book, Performance is the Best Politics, which features the story of Fort Wayne’s transformation to high performance government. Mayor Richard is a long time local business owner and former state senator. He is a graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
We thought that it might be fun to hear from some of the Broadband conference attendees who are involved with the Get Broadband communities and I have to give great thanks to Nancy Standfuss for being the first Get Broadband community member to get back to us with an introduction.
I am excited about coming to the Blandin Broadband conference as a Get Broadband Community member. My name is Nancy Standfuss, the Olivia Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.
I have been active as a steering Committee member for the Renville County get Broadband initiative. Very interested in helping small businesses economic vitality by increasing education, awareness and use of Broadband.
The vitality and strength of our home based businesses life- line will be broadband and its capabilities/ opportunities. Many rural economic forecasters point towards development in broadband services to ensure the capabilities for internet based business development, which will be the future of economic growth in our rural towns, not new buildings and store fronts.
It seems that Google is trying to create a database of everything, which is nice from a user’s perspective. But apparently the rules for the libraries to participate are kind of crazy. Libraries that agree to work with Google must agree to a set of terms, which include making the material unavailable to other commercial search services.
So many libraries are going a different route. They are working with the Open Content Alliance, a nonprofit effort aimed at making their materials broadly available.
Google will scan for free. The Open Content Alliance charges through their alliance. But Google has the restrictions. But it doesn’t make sense to invent 2 wheels. But libraries don’t have much money. But equal access to info is so important and providing it through Google is so easy. But equal access to info is so important and singing away your rights to Google may tie your hands later.
I will try to be better about following the business side of broadband and the FCC. A recent article caught my eye (FCC Extends Regulatory Relief To Two More Telcos) and spurred a renewed interest.
The AT&T, Embarq Corp. and Citizens Communications Co. won’t have to file the rates they charge some business customers for providing broadband service with the FCC. This means their competitors won’t be able to see what those rates are and price their own service accordingly.
Qwest is in line for the next pardon. It sounds as if Verizon has had this privilege since last year.
I find this interesting because it seems like the one thing that everyone agrees on in terms of setting the stage for a national broadband strategy is the need to have better measurements of what is current available.
Suddenly the incumbents get a pass as far as sharing data goes. That doesn’t seem like a step in the right direction to me.
The article remarks that in making these deicions, the FCC members voted 3-2 along party lines with the two Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein opposed.
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Here’s another speaker bio for the upcoming 
We thought that it might be fun to hear from some of the Broadband conference attendees who are involved with the Get Broadband communities and I have to give great thanks to Nancy Standfuss for being the first Get Broadband community member to get back to us with an introduction.
