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Nestled along the upper Mississippi River and surrounded by farms and villages tucked into rolling hills, the town of Galena, Illinois, with its 200-year-old redbrick buildings, has charm to spare and regularly appears on national tourism lists as one of the top small towns to visit.
Now, with the coming of high-speed internet, Galena is seeing a surge not only in tourism but in new residents. And the driver behind this trend is the local electric cooperative.
JCE Co-op took up broadband in 2009 to connect its advanced metering infrastructure. But as fixed wireless systems proved unreliable, the co-op in 2016 designated “future-proof” fiber as standard for all new buildouts. Co-op officials say the biggest impacts of their fiber build-out have been the broad value it’s brought to the communities they serve and a noticeable boost in the confidence and trust their members say they have in the co-op.
In this special edition of Along Those Lines, in conjunction with the August RE Magazine cover story, we hear from JCE Co-op leaders as well as residents of Galena who credit their improved quality of life and business success to the foresight and drive of the co-op’s broadband effort.
Listen to the episode below:
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Find out more about NRECA’s podcast. Questions or suggestions? Email us at AlongThoseLines@nreca.coop.