Imagine pulling together Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program plans for 50 different states, each with a different lens of broadband deployment plans, affordability, digital inclusion, community engagement and even interpretation of grant proposals. Layer on top of that 50 different state National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) offices and a regional team and a federal operation. Then, the cherry on top is the coordination required with several federal agencies such as the FCC, the Rural Utilities Service and the Department of the Treasury, as well as state governments and localities.
Ensuring that the historic BEAD program doesn't topple on its own will require many masters and multiple coordination points, and it is certainly going to be a job in itself. That is the reason why finding times and ways for the individual state broadband directors to meet, compare notes and learn from one another and NTIA is so valuable.
The latest gathering of these leaders was held in Indianapolis recently and while it was very clear that the session was closed only to NTIA and these state folks, a handful of industry stakeholders, including myself, were invited to spend a little bit of time in their meeting room to share thoughts and best practices on workforce development and streamlining the permitting process. In fact, the directives were very clear. We were allowed to share some thoughts, answer some questions, mingle after the panel and then we were to be booted back out of the room. That was fine with me because, in combination with our sponsorship of the reception the night prior and then the panel time, it was a great opportunity to continue to grow our relationships with the state association partners in the building.
There were so many state leaders in areas of the country where our members have deployed broadband, and it was so gratifying to hear their perspectives on the good work that NTCA members have been doing far longer than these folks have been in the broadband space. I also enjoyed hearing about the high regard these state broadband leaders have for their work. It was a little bit like watching the dots get connected in real time on why community-based providers really are a different breed in this space (this is similar to how we are thinking about really elevating our Smart Rural Community provider program that is absolutely designed to differentiate our community-based providers over the large national providers who walked away from many of these rural areas and those new entrants chasing federal dollars).
During the panel, we focused on all the streamlining issues that NTCA members sadly know so well. I also used my time to focus on workforce issues given the unique challenges that exist for rural communities when it comes to finding and retaining talent. At NTCA, we are focused on a few key elements in the rural broadband workforce arena:
- Making rural broadband jobs attractive: utilizing NTCA benefits and our compensation and benefits survey as a management tool and expanding Smart Rural Community efforts to make rural communities more attractive places to work and live.
- Creating access to training: NTCA’s training and badging collaboration with Northwood Technical College.
- Helping members “grow their own” talent: producing numerous tools such as our Broadband Opportunities and Leadership Development K-12 Career Awareness Toolkit and our Foundation for Rural Service’s Guide to Broadband Careers, in addition to some of the exciting work our team and members have been doing in the esports space where the world of robust broadband connects with developing junior talent in communities.
- Building diversity in the industry and increasing the talent pool: NTCA’s own Women in Telecom program has a focus on getting more women into the field and into technical roles, in addition to supporting some of our tribal members and their community educational initiatives. An interesting barrier that has been highlighted to me recently is the lack of daycare in rural communities. I shared a few initiatives underway that our members have taken to address some of this need in their communities and I love everything about these efforts. There will be more to follow there for sure.
Still, one of my favorite parts of the day was hearing some questions and commentary from the state directors themselves after we shared our thoughts. I am sharing some of them here:
Pay attention to the quality of grants submitted. They are your own opportunity to share your story and narrative. Do it better and do it right.
Focus on your relationship with your communities and talk about those in your grant applications. Smart Rural Community providers already have a letter of recommendation for their grant applications as part of the toolkit!
Think about working with your state and locality on creating Broadband Ready communities. Again, this feels like a Smart Rural Community connection to me.
There are exciting days ahead, that’s for sure, and NTCA is just pleased to be around the table to share the story of what it really takes to build broadband in rural communities from those who know best: NTCA members.