In an effort to promote economic development along the U.S 27 corridor, Commissioner Bebe Heiskell recently signed a memorandum of understanding, which is a consent of cooperation agreement, with Chattooga, Floyd, and Polk counties to make broadband available for those wishing to participate in the region’s economic engine.

Heiskell said of the agreement, “We have been working on this for some time and now we are finally getting it all together.”

The agreement reached by the four-county coalition seeks to acquire a grant made available by the Georgia Institute of Technology to help rural communities develop and maintain an information infrastructure, which includes broadband capabilities being made available for all of the region’s businesses and residents.

“Each county believes it is in their best interest to work cooperatively to achieve this goal,” Heiskell said. “Each county believes it is in their best interests to invest in a technology infrastructure to support a greater economic climate for the region.”

County Coordinator David Ashburn said that the study would eventually lead to the availability of “any and all broadband formats, including hard-line availability and open area availability.”

Such open area formats would enable businesses and residents to access the Internet from any location by using wireless technology, commonly called Wi-Fi, with mobile devices like laptop computers and cell phones.

The prospective grant provides the counties with $60,000 to begin the initial studies of how this information infrastructure could be best completed within the region.

County officals believe this technology to be but another tool that would appeal to would-be developers who might consider investing in the area through residential developments or through new businesses constructed.

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