By Christine Graf
When Jim Siplon was hired as president and CEO of Economic Development Corporation (EDC) of Warren County in early 2021, the country was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I stepped into the job, I thought it was about attracting and supporting business,” said Siplon. “That’s kind of the traditional view of economic development. But, COVID helped clarify that there are a lot of dynamics going on in the greater economy and the greater population.”
During the pandemic, the EDC began working to bring high-speed broadband internet service to rural communities throughout the region.
“It’s not something I would have predicted we would get involved in, but we discovered it to be a huge, glaring need during COVID,” he said. “We had school kids that needed to stay connected. We had people with health care issues that were attempting to access health care but couldn’t hold a tele-health session. We had businesses that were trying to operate remotely. The ability for everyone to be able to connect became almost a universal need.”
Although a considerable amount of money had already been spent to bring broadband internet to rural areas, pockets within Warren Country remained unserved.
In order to address what was considered an urgent need, the EDC established an informal group to tackle the issue. The makeup of the group–one that continues to meet weekly–varies from week to week. It typically includes elected officials, members of community organizations, and representatives from broadband companies.
