The broadband industry will convene this week in Fairlawn, Ohio for Great Lakes Connect (GLC). GLC is the first major broadband industry conference from spanning from Wisconsin to Ohio and has attracted economic development, municipal, and other industry leaders in the Midwest and across the United States. Fairlawn is home to one of the nation's new gigabit-speed fiber network that is off to a successful start.
Over 200 are expected to attend the inaugural GLC event, which is organized by the same team that produces the wildly-popular Mountain Connect. Harrison Edwards is proud to be a media sponsor and has a team on-site will to meet with telecom providers and local and regional officials. Also, our Executive VP and COO Bob Knight will be presenting on the panel "Building Political Will: Making the Case for Project Funding" on Wednesday, September 26 with Keybanc Capital Markets' Tom Coverick. .
"Broadband projects can't come to fruition without the people, the press, politicians, and funding," said Knight. "So many broadband projects fail due to misinformation, or a poorly-communicated vision. We can change that," he added.
As of 2018, over 90% of broadband projects in the United States failed to move forward, leaving expensive engineering studies on the shelf, and the taxpayers footing the bill.
"What's unique about Great Lakes Connect and this panel are that we're showing cities and communities how to get stakeholder support, how to drive the take rate, and how to fund fiber projects. We'll also show community leaders how to fight back against misinformation campaigns," said Knight.