<< Back 12/25/02 Jackson County named e-Community SMN Jackson County has been named an official e-community in recognition for successfully completing an extensive technology planning process and working to galvanize community support for and involvement in the digital economy. Leaders of the e-NC Initiative, a grassroots effort to connect all North Carolinians to the Internet and a better future, honored 81 rural North Carolina counties and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians with the designation during a luncheon in Raleigh, N.C., recently. “In less than a year, volunteers in counties across North Carolina have made significant strides in getting their communities online and in working toward a fully connected state — an e-NC made up of e-communities,” said Dr. James Leutze, chairman of the Rural Internet Access Authority, the group leading the e-NC Initiative. “We are especially proud of the outstanding efforts our e-champions and their steering committees have undertaken to improve their fellow North Carolinians’ quality of life and economic prospects by working to bring greater high-speed Internet access and training opportunities to their communities.” E-NC’s e-champions from across the state, attended the luncheon to receive certificates signed by Gov. Mike Easley and e-NC’s leaders to mark the accomplishment of being recognized as official e-communities. Stacy Guffey and Ryan Schwiebert, coordinators of Jackson, Macon and Swain County e-community initiatives, accepted the honor on behalf of Jackson County. “Our e-community teams put a lot of effort into a comprehensive technology plan for Jackson County,” said Schwiebert. “It was nice to be recognized for these efforts. Our hope is that these e-community plans will further be recognized in the future through funding.” Southwestern Community College assigned two full-time staff members to work with the e-Champions and steering committees in Jackson, Macon and Swain counties and the EBCI. “Having time to work on this project gave us an opportunity to bring the three counties and the EBCI together in a collaborative effort. Working together is the only way projects of this scale can be carried out,” said Guffey. “David Cox, the Jackson County e-Champion and Larry Tucker, the former e-Champion, and the Jackson County Steering Committee have put a lot of time and energy into determining the technology needs of the county.” Cox reported that while most NC counties focused their efforts on “last mile solutions” — how the Internet gets delivered from the Internet service provider (ISP) to the customer ” Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties decided to seek funding for the “middle mile solution” — adding more reliable bandwidth to the area which would enable ISPs to provide better and cheaper “last mile” solutions. “We also felt that this ‘middle mile’ project was crucial to the economic development of the area,” said Cox. “In today’s society, companies will not locate in an area without adequate Internet bandwidth and redundancy. Think of the times we’ve lost Internet access, cell phones and long distance because of construction on Balsam.” Recently, project funding was announced that will put fiber optic cable into several western North Carolina counties, add wireless Internet service and assist a local telecommunications carrier bring Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) to the area. “I’d like to thank SCC for their help on making some of these ideas a reality,” said Cox. “They kept the ball rolling for us.” For additional information on the e-NC initiative, contact Schweibert at 586.4091 or 800.447.4091, ext. 600 or visit www.e-nc.org on the Internet.