Victoria Proffer, President and CEO of St. Louis Broadband recently attended the National Summit of Rural America: A Dialogue for Renewing Promise. The event was held in Hillsboro, Mo on June 3rd. The summit was designed to give Rural Americans a chance to share their vision and ideas for creating a more prosperous and more promising future for rural America. Farmers, ranchers, and foresters from around the country, policymakers from all levels of government, as well as community leaders were invited to discuss the key priorities and policies necessary to start building rural America again.
US CTO Aneesh Chopra and Victoria Proffer, St. Louis Broadband
One of the main topics of the event was obviously, improving Broadband infrastructure in rural communities. Key speakers or panelists included the CTO of the United States, Aneesh Chopra and USDA Administrator Jonathan Adelstein. Ms. Proffer reports that it was an exciting summit and was very informative. There was great dialog between the panelists and the audience.
USDA Administrator Jonathan Adelstein and Victoria Proffer, St. Louis Broadband
Improving rural Broadband opportunities is one of the primary thrusts of the Broadband Stimulus Grant program, as well as the National Broadband Plan. St. Louis Broadband, has applied for a major grant focusing on the Ozark Mountain area south of St. Louis. Her new company name is ShowMe Broadband and here is its Executive Summary. ShowMe Broadband has proposed to cover a rugged terrain covering 10 counties, three of which are persistent poverty counties. Ms. Proffer was awarded WISP of the year at the WISPCON conference is 2004. Her entrepreneurial spirit is reflective of most Wireless Internet Service Providers across the nation. These WISPs are often born out of a need for local Broadband service where other companies will not invest. There are approximately 2000-3000 WISP services around the country.
St. Louis Broadband is a member of WISPA. WISPA is the not-for-profit trade association which represents the interests of WISPs and the needs of rural American communites. It’s lobbying efforts represent a common sense approach at solving major issues involving the lack of Broadband in rural and suburban America. This organization and industry represents the epitome of “grassroots efforts”, where Americans step up to solve their own communities communication obstacles.
Tags: aneesh chopra, broadband, broadband plan, FCC, government, Jonathan Adelstein, spectrum, usda, wireless, wisp, wispa
