Letter to the Editor: On Franklin County jobs, strong communities and GFDC

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New jobs in Franklin County require new businesses to move here and our existing businesses to grow. Thriving businesses create jobs!

Thriving businesses do best if supported by a robust and healthy economic and community fabric. Elements of a strong, vibrant community that will attract families and businesses to move here, stay here, and thrive, include:

  • Well-developed infrastructure, including transportation, energy, and telecommunications
  • Reliable healthcare providers and facilities
  • Quality educational opportunities
  • Access to outdoor recreation opportunities

The Greater Franklin Development Council (GFDC) works to coordinate and partner with regional resources including businesses, Chambers of Commerce, schools, towns, and healthcare providers to advance these community elements. Indicators of success in these efforts will include:

  • Access to reliable high-speed broadband for ALL of our 30,000 residents
  • Increasing in-migration, particularly by young families
  • A healthy real estate market resulting in growth opportunities and increased revenues for the towns
  • Expanding school enrollment
  • A vibrant, creative, and diverse economy
  • Resilient healthcare systems

These lead to a strong and growing economy.

Many counties face challenges similar to ours. We all seek to adapt to changes in the economic climate around us. One common approach practiced by Maine’s fifteen other counties is to invest in an office, like the GFDC, whose overall goal is to create an environment where thriving businesses can and will add to the workforce and where people will choose to live, work, and raise a family.

In the past, the GFDC has enjoyed strong support from the county. It is important for local businesses and our citizens to regain this support. We invest in our county. GFDC is the entity that attracts state and federal funds to strengthen and expand economic and community initiatives. These initiatives spur the above lists so important to thriving businesses. This is how jobs are created.

We share the concern of the Franklin County Commissioners that job creation is a measurement of success. Job creation is one performance indicator of a growing business. Businesses grow best with successful economic and community development. Understanding this, we have made it GFDC’s focus.

We hope to regain the support of the county as we move towards these goals. We have work to do before we get there. It takes perseverance and patience. We must keep an eye on the future. Our investment in economic and community development now will provide a strong return for generations to come.

Charlie Woodworth of Freeman Township
Executive Director
Greater Franklin Development Council
Farmington

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8 Comments

  1. Well said Charlie,
    You made mention of a healthy real estate market; I’d like to remind people of the vital importance of providing access to reliable high-speed broadband for ALL for the ability to sell your house. I know many homeowners in Franklin County who are unable to sell their homes because of the lack of or poor quality broadband. The next generation of business owners and entrepreneurs will not move here unless we can provide this required infrastructure. Vote YES on 1.

  2. If I vote YES, what exactly am I voting for? I’m not trying to be disingenuous. I read the letter several times, I understand the points you listed. If this passes, what happens?

    25 years ago, I participated in a group that met periodically to discuss details of a broadband initiative for this area. We discussed, but nothing really happened until the free market system persuaded the few providers in Franklin Cty to drag their services out of the 20th century. Thank you to the providers for the 100 mbs that I now have access to, at a cost less than the 10 mbs just a few years ago.

    If YES on 1 will just increase my taxes for a vague intention to improve things later, forget it. Please get back to me soon.

  3. Just some questions and observations.
    1. The places you claim affiliation, various commerce chambers, are nonprofits that already exist and are funded by tax money through grants, why then should we(taxpayers) vote to fund you, when we could just eliminate the middle man and vote to increase the grant money should they choose to seek it?
    2. Why is the Vice President of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce also the chairman of your firm?
    3. Maybe you don’t know this, but internet companies like TDS, Fair Point, Spectrum, etc. are not going to run internet through the middle of nowhere, it isn’t practical, the further away from the source the signal, be it WiFi, DSL, Broadband, 4G/5G, cable or satellite, the weaker the signal gets, and since we lost the use of the analog bandwidth, we can’t blast the signal through mountains anymore, and digital only goes so far and is weaker than analog, a brief explanation on the two, remember the old antennas that every house and TV had, where some tinfoil actually made them work better, that that is an analog signal, the satellite dish that loses its picture if it rains hard or snow builds up on the dish, that’s a digital signal, fragile and temperamental. Dish and DirecTV both say a clear view of the southern sky is required for a good strong signal, this is due to the satellites being about 30 degrees above the horizon in an equatorial west to east orbit, so if the dish doesn’t have a clear view due to trees or terrain, that internet service is useless, WiFi is good only for maybe 50ft from the source, so that too is useless, 4G/5G(cellphones, Redzone) require towers, and since it too is a digital signal, it needs a clear view to the device and a tower every mile or so in order for the signal to be strong enough to be practical. It sucks it really does, but high-speed internet in rural Franklin county just will not happen, even with the NECEC and its open space for high-speed internet transmission won’t be much help, the amount of boosters required would put it in the half billion to billion dollar range, no company is going to take that on only to serve 10,000 people buckshot across 1700 square miles of wooded, rugged terrain. The only real, even slightly practical way, would be, internet cafes in the bigger towns that do have high-speed, but even now that is questionable at the present moment.

  4. Dear Frostproof,
    Thank you for your pointed question. On Tuesday, July 14th, we vote on Question #1. A YES vote will endorse a $15 million bond that will attract another $30 million in federal, private and municipal funds. As a result, $45 million will be directed to shovel-ready implementation projects focused on connecting the unserved and underserved areas of Maine, i.e. Franklin County. While the funds are insufficient to connect our whole state, this bond is a necessary step towards recognizing that we, as a state, need to take matters into our own hands rather than waiting for federal or private intervention. See the State Broadband Action Plan here.
    What does this bond mean for us in Franklin county?
    Our Franklin County Broadband Initiative has delivered a county-wide plan and our first step towards implementation will be a six-town project (Carthage, Weld, Wilton, Temple, Perkins Twp and Washington Twp). This is a public/private partnership including provider, towns, federal and state investment. If this bond vote passes, this shovel-ready project will compete for these state funds which will reduce the town’s share of the project cost. Success with this project will attract interest and increase success for our projects to follow throughout the county.

  5. Mr. Woodworth,
    Thanks for your response. But you neglected to describe this project and what will be expected of the various partners. $45M is a nice chunk of change. $15M comes out of my state pocket, $30M from my federal pocket. It is not free money.

    When you’re finished describing the project, please define what success means.

    Thanks,
    Frostproof

    PS, your link to the State Broadband Action Plan is missing from your response.

  6. When Mrs. Billyjoebob needs the occasional high speed for business she can park outside ( or go inside ) the local library and presto! Business done, now for some shopping at the local retailers.
    Sounds like success will be to have the next wave of businesses and entrepreneurs move in. As we all know having more smarter people here makes things like the school budget smaller, right?
    Thank you Frostproof for the great questions, I also will wait for direct answers.

  7. Is this the one? Detailed 2019-2021 Strategic Plan for Broadband Service in Maine

    See p.15 Five-Year Goal: Within five years, 99% of all potential subscriber locations statewide have access to at least one broadband provider with sufficient capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy and economy, to enable civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services.

    Please call it something else. Something that doesn’t connote soviet imagery. Also drop the virtue-signaling reference to democracy.

    There’s an interesting footnote on “99%”: The 99% goal is based upon the assumption that the cost to reach the last 1% is exorbitant and will be much more reasonably served via satellite-based services.

    I’ll bet you a soviet, democratic cookie that 1% is off by a 20x factor.

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