Mark Erickson (Minnesota fiber advocate and Withrop City Administrator) will be speaking with Craig Settles (Broadband Strategist) on Craig’s Gigabit Nation Broadband Talk Radio Show on Monday November 12 at 1:00 PM. Here’s a description…

In community broadband planning, you can’t always get what you want. But if you are flexible sometimes, you just might find you get what you need. With apologies to the Rolling Stones, this pretty much sums up recent events in Sibley County, MN.

Winthrop, MN city administrator Mark Erickson provides some insights on Sibley’s roller coaster ride to broadband, and how to keep stakeholders focused so they can quickly transform challenges into new and better opportunities. Originally, Sibley was going to be part of a major two-county fiber project. Things changed, the county opted out of the relationship, farmers switched tack to form their own fiber co-op and now they continue to press forward with broadband.

This update from Erickson and our analysis of Sibley’s efforts is helpful for all broadband stakeholders who experience the many trials and triumphs of herding cats into the digital future.

And for folks attending the Broadband conference in Duluth this week – you can continue the conversation there. Both Mark and Craig will be at the conference.