Genesee County ideal location for Google Fiber

We put it in writing

Our community has voiced strong support for this initiative through written letters of support and a number of other means. In fact every village, city, and township in Genesee County has signed and submitted a document showing their support for Google’s project. Our Community Support page lists all the municipalities, hospitals, educational institutions, businesses, organizations, and individuals who have signed this letter of support to help Google with this important project.

Ready to work

As a community, we are excited about the opportunity to partner with Google and play a leading role in advancing high-speed broadband access throughout the United States. We also recognize that this initiative will involve a lot of hard work. We are not afraid of hard work in Genesee County. Looking back through the history of our community, we think you will agree. We have the people, the resources, and the community enthusiasm necessary to make this project a reality.

We’re proactive

We have not been sitting idle during the Information Age—far from it. This project is a natural fit for us as we have already spearheaded several efforts to provide high-speed bandwidth throughout the county.

In fact, Genesee County has one of the most successful educational networks in the country (GenNET)—a project that integrated 21 school districts with fiber. As a result, our K-12 students have already been exposed to advanced online programs, interactive learning, satellite downlinks, as well as professional development and technology training.

Some of the higher education institutions here in Genesee County are already connected with fiber through FANET (Flint Area Network for Education Telecommunications). This network is connected to the GenNET program. As a result, we are able to offer college-level courses to our high school students via Internet television.

Our most recent project was “Wireless Genesee,” an effort organized by a group of volunteers that worked diligently to provide wireless access throughout the county. Through this cooperative effort, we learned a lot about our connectivity issues here in Genesee County. During this process, we also developed connectivity plans and gathered a significant amount of data.

We think you will agree—we have a strong foundation already in place for the Google project.

The need is here

Genesee County is very diverse community, with a mix of urban, industrial, and rural areas. However, many of these areas face significant challenges when it comes to accessing the Internet. Many of our rural areas only have dial-up access available for residents and businesses. As well, many of our suburbs have a limited selection when it comes to Internet access. Compared to other communities throughout the United States, it is much more costly for individuals and businesses in these areas to connect to the Internet. We also have businesses in our urban and industrial areas that are desperate for more bandwidth. We need to keep these businesses in our community, so that they do not have to relocate, rent, or place equipment in other areas like Southeast Michigan.

As everyone is aware, Flint and Genesee County have been hard hit by the economic downturn—more so than in other areas throughout the country. We have a large percentage of our population without jobs, as well as retirees living off less income, and employees living on reduced wages. As a result of these economic factors, high-speed bandwidth is unavailable to a large segment of our population.

We know that Google is a good corporate citizen, and that it sets the standard for giving back to communities in Corporate America. Our area is already in the national spotlight, and we believe that by investing in our community, Google would be making a very public, significant economic impact in Flint, Genesee County, and beyond. 

By lowering the cost of broadband, and by creating opportunities for current and new business with higher-speed access, we believe that Google would help us in our ongoing efforts to revitalize the local economy and create lasting job opportunities for our residents.

We have the brainpower

The Flint area is primed for new ideas and innovative new technologies with its large population of university, college, and trade school students.

Genesee County is home to Kettering University, which is consistently voted as one of the top three engineering universities in the United States. Kettering University also is actively working with some of the newest technologies in the green and automotive industries. Some of these projects include a new biogas plant and technologies related to hydrogen-based engines.

Baker College also has created one of the best cyber defense programs in the United States. Their Cyber Defense Team has won first place in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition for the past two years.

Here in Genesee County, we also have the University of Michigan, which has had a Flint campus for more than 50 years. With ongoing expansion of its buildings, student housing, services, and academic offerings, the University of Michigan has continued to play a critical role in the redevelopment of Downtown Flint and the revitalization of this community.  The university also continues to graduate highly qualified students in a variety of fields, providing our community and businesses with a highly educated workforce.

We are also very proud of Mott Community College where students are offered affordable degrees in high-quality facilities. Mott also is home to the Regional Technology Center, which provides students with high-tech skills, and businesses with a highly advanced training facility for a number of manufacturing processes.

Residents with disabilities

Genesee County has 86,000 residents with disabilities (U.S. Census), and is home to the well-acclaimed Michigan School for the Deaf.

Access to the Internet is critical for people with disabilities because it provides them with the access they need to live independently and to take full advantage of opportunities available to others.  In the past decade, access to the Web has had a profound effect on the lives of those with disabilities.

Broadband access helps connect low-cost remote sign language interpreters with those who are deaf. Through those connections, people who are deaf or hard of hearing are able to communicate with doctors during medical appointments, participate in online education programs, and take full advantage of work-at-home opportunities. 

In fact, research shows that on average, people living with disabilities use information- and Web-based technology more than others. By contrast, those with disabilities who do not have access to the Internet face additional barriers to opportunities and needed resources. 

For disabled residents in Genesee County, access to the Internet and to affordable broadband is critical. The Michigan School for the Deaf provides remote video interpreting for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. The impact that high-speed broadband would have on this service would be significant.

As well, people with disabilities made more than 500,000 public transportation (MTA) trips last year to get to work and to access goods and services throughout the community. Clearly, there is a demonstrated need for greater access to the community—access that would be greatly enhanced by the addition of high-speed broadband in Genesee County. With high-speed broadband access, employment opportunities for those with skills and talent would only increase in our community. Additionally, people with disabilities would be better able to locate accessible housing and needed community supports and services with high-speed broadband.

Perfect test environment

The diversity in our community provides a great test environment for distributing fiber in new cost- effective and efficient ways. Our rural, urban, and industrial locations would provide perfect test cases for other similar areas throughout the United States.

We firmly believe that by partnering with Flint and Genesee County, Google would find the solutions it needs to successfully develop and promote this technology and high-speed broadband access nationwide.