Foothills Connect: Connecting Rutherford County

Our Challenge

As the Founding Chair of the Board of Foothills Connect, I see our challenge is to rewrite the economic landscape of our county.  By connecting existing resources and adding new layers of technology we are designing a new tomorrow.  Come join our journey and let us know your thoughts.

Another Success Story

Matt had a very slow connection. Work was impossbile for a web designer without ultra high speed connectivity. Matt was able to ake advantage of the connection speeds available through Foothills Connect. Free internet access is available through the physical internet lab. Using this connectivity Matt was able to establish his business ARCHON Creative Design. This is the connectivity we need in Rutherford County so everyone has the opportunity to grow their own interests and business. What do you think?

More Money on Smaller Spaces

Apple to Apple
Originally uploaded by Lori Greig

Farmers Fresh is a highly innovative program connecting farmers directly with chefs. Rutherford County farmers have orders placed through Foothills Connect's Farmers Fresh program. Technology makes the connection simple and cost effective. Not only are farmers able to sell their goods at a higher price but chefs can purchase the best ingredients at terrific prices.

A transformation is also occurring with the farmers. Through this Farmers Fresh connection they can now earn more per acre than ever before. Speciality crops grown for the chefs are yielding far more than traditional crops. No longer do farmers have to harvest large acres at a small profit per acre. Now they can harvest small acres for large profits.

Person to Person Loans

Deskolicious 3.1
Originally uploaded by Glenn Wolsey

Make more money or save more money ... It's the idea behind Prosper the website that connects people to people to loan money. The applicants information is there: purpose, credit rating, ratio of debt to income and more. This connection allows people to borrow money at a lower rate and for investors to put away money at a higher rate. Check out Prosper and let me know what you think.

Two Languages

A for Effort
Originally uploaded by eye2eye

Its intriguing to me that our youngest generation are the digital natives. Yet we have our academic end of course tests in baby boomer language. Students who normally talk in electronic text are asked to perform in the handwritten world. I don't know if this is an advantage or disadvantage. What do you think?

Amazing Photo Information

San Diego Airport
Originally uploaded by kiteline

I am constantly amazed at what technology can do to shorten this world. Take flickr.com one of the world's postings of pictures. I have been using it to improve the visual appeal of this blog. Recently I found some other powerful pieces it uses.

Did you know that you can find pictures by where they were taken? I have two pictures posted. One was taken in San Diego, CA and another in Spindale, NC. Not only can I place them on the map but I can designate specifically where I was standing when I took these pictures. I can also pick a location in he world and see where other photos were taken there.

Attached to my pictures is information about the camera - with a link to complete camera information and complete information about the picture. All information was recorded on the picture when it was taken. Information that is now at your disposal on the web. Amazing!

How Are We Doing?

In a report now 4 years old here are some of the findings from the US Dept of Commerce about connectivity.
* The proportion of U.S. households with broadband Internet connections more than doubled from 9.1 percent in September 2001 to 19.9 percent in October 2003.
* In 2001, two-thirds of broadband households used cable modem service (66.4 percent). By October 2003, cable modem households dropped to 56.4 percent and 43.6 percent of broadband households were using other types of connections.
Broadband usage is lower in rural than urban areas.
* A lower percentage of Internet households have broadband connections in rural areas (24.7 percent) than in urban areas (40.4 percent).
* Rural households with dial-up connections are significantly more likely than their urban counterparts to list "Not Available" as the reason they do not have a higher speed Internet connection (22.1 percent to 4.7 percent, respectively).

This is from the report "A Nation Online: Entering the Digital Age" published September 2004.

Digital Natives

Young Girl With Laptop
Originally uploaded by LFStudio

Our youth are the digital natives and we are the digital immigrants. Does our current education system engage or enrage our students. Here is an intriguing discussion. What are your views?

It's Ultra-High Speed Not Broadband

high voltage
Originally uploaded by r.i.c.h.

How fast is broadband? It is a term whose definition seems to be changing. Some providers of internet service a few years ago talked about building broadband access for the future. These providers have slightly updated their technology and called it "broadband." They stake their new claim at lower speeds by simply changing their current definition of broadband.

Therefore I choose to use the set of words "ultra-high speed." It is a definition providers have not yet caught on to and clearly shows the general public we have not achieved it yet. It is my personal preference to say that the vision for Rutherford County is ultra-high speed. If we say it is "broadband" then some can claim we have now achieved our vision. My slowly uploading files will demonstrate I clearly do not have the high speeds we need. We need ultrahigh speed for Rutherford County.
What do you think?

The Newer Economy

Colored Pencils
Originally uploaded by minnieminnmin

Do you know more income can come from connections on the internet? Connecting artists with contractors is the role of Pixish. It's a site where people needing design work can place a project. Artists submit their works for cash awards. It's the newer trend on the internet.

Thanks to PANGAEA

It is through the vision and dogged dedication of PANGAEA board that Rutherford County Schools are now connected with fiber. Previously all school connections went through 1 DSL and 1 T1 line. That was all. For a number of years a handful of volunteers have been guiding a wonderful group know as PANGAEA. It is through their perseverance that our schools now enjoy their ultra high speed connectivity. Thanks to these folks for their vision and for provided the new umbilical cord for the county.