Barbara Koldos, vice president-business development for New North Inc., has been named to the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access. The group meets monthly with the established goal of improving broadband access in Wisconsin through well-informed recommendations designed to expand access, adoption and affordability of high-speed internet.
New North Co-Chair Michelle Schuler also is a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access, representing TechSpark Wisconsin, Microsoft.
“We are pleased to have Barbara join Michelle on the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access. Their participation gives New North two strong voices as the future of internet in the state is actively discussed and decided,” says Barb LaMue, president and CEO of New North Inc., the regional marketing and economic development corporation for the 18 counties of Northeast Wisconsin. “Internet has become essential community infrastructure, critical to business investment and where people choose to locate, and it’s important that New North play an active role in its development and improvement.”
Koldos joined new and returning members of the task force on Sept. 21 for the first meeting of its third year of work, where the group reviewed past accomplishments and set this year’s goals.
She oversaw the multi-month Regional Broadband Access Study of the 18 counties within the New North region, fully completed this past May. The report provided 10 strategic recommendations centering around the goal of delivering high-performance internet in all areas of the region.
A number of significant projects designed to improve internet access and quality since have been initiated within the New North. Over the past three Fiscal Years (2020-22), grants from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin have awarded a total of $22,185,313 to Internet Service Providers and Communities, leveraging an additional $39,748,387 in private investment for broadband expansion across the region.
A compilation of New North’s broadband work is at https://www.thenewnorth.com/broadband-access/.
The Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access has 27 members from public- and private-sector companies, plus elected officials, from across the state. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers created the task force in July 2020 to advise the governor and state legislature on broadband actions, policies and strategies to successfully expand high-speed internet in Wisconsin.
