Unlocking Broadband in the Heartland: A Harvest of American Opportunity
In Bowling Green, Missouri, a soy farmer struggles with the bandwidth she needs to support her farm’s new precision agriculture technology — stunting crop yields and the ability to innovate. In South Bloomington, Illinois, owners of a family flower and produce farm are unable to launch their business website due to poor load times and slow internet speeds — causing frustrations and income disruptions. Two-and-a-half hours southwest, an Elsah village resident searches for broadband and cell service while trying to contact the local fire department to alert them of a house fire. These are true stories from America’s heartland — a sprawling roughly 1 million square miles of land stretching across 20 inland states. “Lack of broadband in the heartland isn’t just a ‘heartland issue,’” says Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, a philanthropic organization with an arm focused…