PLOVER, WI (WSAU) — Governor Tony Evers and State Representative Katrina Shankland toured the new Food and Farm Exploration Center in Plover on Tuesday to learn about the unique facility and how it will benefit from a recent broadband expansion grant which brought high-speed internet to rural areas around the village.
Evers says access to high-speed internet service is now the equivalent of access to electricity- businesses, farms, and homes can’t operate efficiently without it. “Kids can’t do their homework, adults [and businesses] can’t interact with each other across the country. Look at what’s happening with telehealth and how important that is.”
Evers says that’s why he’s continuing to support broadband access grants as part of the state budget, adding that when electricity began to expand to rural areas it was with help from the federal government.
“They subsidized the programs so that people could access [electricity.] It’s the same thing now,” added Evers.
Shankland, who represents the 71st Assembly District, says she still hears from residents about how they struggle to find reliable service. “We use broadband internet for health, business, education, farming- you name it. Whether we are in the Town of Plover, Village of Plover, Stevens Point, or the Town of Amherst we all deserve access.”
Tuesday’s event also included a look at some of the high-speed internet infrastructure built into the Food and Farm Exploration Center. Those on the tour with Solaris, the company which services the building, said it would provide a better glimpse of what it takes to deliver a reliable internet connection than watching the workers drill and lay cables in a ditch somewhere.
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