To lay the groundwork for creative public/private partnerships to improve broadband access, Montana West Economic Development and Northwest Montana Association of Realtors/MLS hosted  approximately 90 engaged attendees at the Community Broadband Initiative on Wednesday, June 13th at FVCC.  Facilitated by Kate McMahon of Applied Communications, LLC; Paul DeWolfe of Access Consulting; and MWED Staff,  this important event organized community conversations about options to address the well-documented gap in crucial infrastructure for new technology and broadband access as demonstrated in the 2017 CEDS.

The workshop was designed to educate key players and the community at large about new public and private initiative and finance tools available throughout the country to maximize opportunity in the Valley. Break-out sessions and discussion were carried-out by each community, resulting in initial plans and follow-up methods to move forward for implementation. Stakeholder and Provider Panels gave way to a question and answer period to get the issues that are plaguing each community out in the open, to find solutions instead of placing blame.