Broadband Internet in Coloma, Garden Valley, Kelsey, Mount Aukum, Omo Ranch and Fair Play?

All El Dorado County residents could have broadband Internet service by 2010!

Rural areas have largely been left behind in the provision of access to high-speed Internet that has become essential to business growth, education, medical care and monitoring, tele-work, e-commerce, and entertainment. It is the goal of the State of California to provide broadband access to all Californians by 2010. A $240,000 grant from the California Emerging Technology Fund is funding an aggregated broadband project being managed by the Sierra Economic Development Corporation. SEDCorp serves El Dorado , Sierra, Nevada, and Placer counties and the project will aggregate the demand for high-speed internet from those counties to create a valuable package of market data to interest service providers.  The grant will finance a study to determine how many people have and want broadband service and how much they would be willing to pay for it.

Broadband offers the promise of expanding business development while preserving the quality of life in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  Leaders throughout the region believe making broadband Internet access widely available will stimulate business growth.  New wireless technology can make it all happen.  It will not be as fast as a wire system, but it will be a lot faster than dial-up.

SEDCorp helps to promote economic development by helping existing and new businesses access financing.  SEDCorp offers loans directly through its SBA Micro Enterprise Loan Program.  This program Targets women, minorities, low-income individuals and others who cannot access financing through traditional credit grantors.  SEDCorp also participates with cities and counties to offer Community Loan programs or direct bank lending when appropriate.  In addition, SEDCorp can assist businesses within our region by guiding borrowers to banks for guaranty loans. Businesses can seek loan-packaging assistance from SEDCorp staff to develop the most likely financing sources.  To access more information about one of these programs, visit their website http://www.sedd.org/.

For more information contact:

Sam Driggers, EDC Economic Development Director. (530) 621-5570

Brent Smith, CEO SEDcorp. (530) 823-4703