Clark County Economic Development Corporation Working on Bringing Broadband to Clark County

Monday, August 8th, 2022 -- 11:01 AM

Some residents and organizations in Clark County have been working on bringing broadband to the county.

The conversation of better internet access in Clark County has been going on some time. A recent proposal from Bug Tussel Wireless would have provided an opportunity to expand broadband in the County.

According to the Clark County Economic Development Corporation, the $18 million proposal, with $2.5 million in grants, from Bug Tussel would have had no cost to the county. The county would have had to guarantee bonds for Bug Tussel for 30 years, leading to a return on money with interest.

The county would have seen $72,000 per year from Bug Tussel. The county would have seen improved cellular services across the county; one hundred ninety miles of fiber optic cable; and ten towers for cellular and fixed wireless.

This would have provided max speeds 1Gbps and a Minimum speed of 200 Mbps for fiber and 5 Mbps for fixed wireless. For residents, 4,304 would have been able to receive fiber and 7,209 would get fixed wireless. For businesses, 227 would get fiber and 114 would have access to fixed wireless.

A Broadband Study for Clark County was recently completed by the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. It determined that increased connectivity in the county would benefit manufacturing, retail, finance, health care, agriculture and tourism.

Other sectors such as education and government would also benefit. According to the study, broadband is a critical piece of infrastructure for communities looking to attract new capital investment.

Locations with inadequate connectivity are more likely to be passed over for projects requiring broadband and miss out on economic development opportunities. According to the research, various analyses have identified a positive correlation between broadband and economic growth.

“With public and private investment in broadband infrastructure, communities lagging behind will be placed in an ever more competitive disadvantage.” This competitive disadvantage is further exacerbated when a community lacks broadband service for its residents and critical facilities.

Broadband is now essential to quality of life, which influences the economy in a number of ways. Clark County has been experiencing workforce shortages. Broadband is an asset to help attract workers as well as providing certain training programs.

At their July 21st meeting, this proposal was brought before the County Board and a 2/3rds vote was needed in order for it to pass. However, the proposal was defeated with eight board members voting no.

The County will have another opportunity to bring this proposal before the board to try and get the 2/3rds vote needed to pass it and bring better connectivity to the area.

The Clark County Economic Development Corporation encourages residents to contact their County Board representative and ask them to support this proposal. If you’d like to learn more you can contact the CCEDC at 715-255-9100 or you can visit their website.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.