Connecting Wisconsin

Connecting Wisconsin is a collaborative effort of concerned businesses, organizations, and community members across our state seeking to bring broadband to every home in Wisconsin.

Although broadband access in Wisconsin is growing, the reality is that many regions still don’t have affordable, dependable service.

The Problem

• When our kids don’t have access to the best technology in the classroom, they enter the workforce ill-prepared.
• Businesses rely more and more on the internet to get and keep customers—not having broadband access affects not only the economic growth of under-connected communities but also hurts an already struggling jobs climate.
• Healthcare is expensive. The debates raging in Congress are evidence of that. While they work to provide Americans with new healthcare choices, many of us take to the Internet as our go-to medical information source—medical technology innovations can save lives, but only if those who need it have access.
• Wisconsin has a rich history of agriculture and small farming communities. This dear part of our state’s culture is at risk because without access businesses leave and kids don’t come back after college—drying up our rural communities one by one.

The Connecting Wisconsin Solution

We realize that to bring broadband access across Wisconsin, establishing public/private partnerships between businesses, telecommunications companies—large and small—are crucial.

Technology growth, innovation, and access depend on collaboration and strategic ACTION.

Access to broadband is vitally important to achieving our community and economic development goals, through conferences like Connecting Southwest Wisconsin: The Road to Broadband, April 22, 2010, we are building public-private partnerships to expedite broadband availability to more places where community members live, work, learn and play to foster economic growth and job creation.