Broadband goals identified in report / Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — The Connect Ohio Strategic Technology Plan for the future implementation of broadband Internet service in Knox County was released Thursday. Dave Davidson, Northeast Ohio Field Director for Connect Ohio, Gov. Strickland’s task force created to identify and make recommendations about the expansion of high-speed technology throughout the state, said broadband has the potential to be a great equalizer, giving smaller communities as much potential for creating Internet-based or related businesses as larger cities, while at the same time, offering entrepreneurs the lower cost of living and higher quality of life rural areas offer.

“This initiative could give this state a platform to move forward,” Davidson said. “It is something that could bring back small-town business.” Davidson said that, compared to its neighbors, Knox County is well-situated to move forward, thanks in part to the vision of John Chidester, director of the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, who started the push toward implementing fiber-optic communication lines in the county’s libraries 20 years ago...