Be A DOER…AND a Smart Rural Community!

By Shirley Bloomfield, CEO, NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association

Our team and brain trust on our Smart Rural Community branding efforts quickly jumped into action this week after FCC Commissioner Starks announced a new initiative….and now it is time for Smart Rural Communities to shine….again!

This week, the FCC announced the Digital Opportunity Equity Recognition (DOER) program to celebrate individuals and organizations who have made broadband more widely available to meet the challenges of COVID-19. And we know that’s you and why we started our outreach with our SRC community.

The FCC seeks nominations of those who have “leverage[ed] the use of broadband to improve healthcare, education, public safety, civic engagement or other essential services.” If that sounds familiar, it’s because it mirrors the mission of SRC and the collaborative efforts of you and other leaders in your community.

And if that sounds familiar, it’s also because we know Smart Rural Community℠ members have been imagining, engaging, collaborating and executing at warp speed since COVID-19 hit. Drive-up Wi-Fi? Yep. Free installations and special broadband packages for families with K-12 students at home? Got that. Mobile Wi-Fi vans, including those timed to coordinate with lunch distributions at schools? Check. And what about a “clean team” of technicians reserved to service health and elder care facilities? On it. All of these are examples of forward-thinking, community-oriented actions undertaken by Smart Rural Community companies over the past several months.

You see, we know that you are doers. Because getting things done is at the heart of every Smart Rural Community. So, click this link to the FCC application and share the news. And if you haven’t yet joined our Smart Rural Community effort, check it how to do so below.

Not to brag. Not to boast. Not to show-off or swagger. But to amplify what can be done (and what has been done!) when community commitment meets technological expertise. That is already the definition of our SRCs. At a time when every assumption has been shaken and disruption has become the norm, you have proven that Smart + Rural + Community means fortitude, grit and a can-do way of getting things done.

You’re Smart. And you’re a DOER. Let’s spread the word!

Not a Smart Rural Community yet? Apply today!