Small Businesses in Ohio Benefit From Expanded Broadband Access

From left, Phil Taylor demonstrates some of the facets of his small business, Taylor Made Countertops, to Gallia County Commissioners President Justin Fallon, Governor’s Office of Appalachia Director Fred Deel, AT&T Director of External Affairs B.J. Smith, and Kingsley Meyer of the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College.

Elizabeth Rigel/photo, with permission

Taylor Made Countertops sits along Ohio 141 near Patriot, Ohio in Gallia County. Owner Phil Taylor purchases solid surface, an acrylic material used to make his custom countertops, from an out-of-state manufacturer that has increasingly moved its sales online and even offers discounts for buyers who purchase over the internet, according to an article in the Gallipolis Daily Tribune.

However, Taylor openly admitted in an article in the Gallipolis Daily Tribune that using the Internet, in it current dial-up state, just isn’t worth the effort.

“Dial-up (Internet) takes so long that I don’t usually have time to do it,” Taylor told the Gallipolis Daily Tribune.

However, Taylor and others in the communities of Cheshire, Mercerville, Patriot and Vinton in Gallia County and Arabia-Waterloo in Lawrence County, won’t have to worry about slow-dial up speeds, thanks to a recent public-private partnership between the state of Ohio and AT&T, according to the article. Connect Ohio, a Connected Nation initiative, also contributed to the effort.

Thanks to this partnership, residents within three miles of central locations in Gallia and Lawrence County can now hook in to these connections. Four broadband packages are available for purchase, ranging from approximately $20 to $35 in cost per month.

This is just one example of the power of ubiquitous broadband. The work of Connected Nation and its state-based initiatives continually strives to form public-private partnerships in an effort to ensure all Americans have access to high-speed Internet for all areas their lives.

To learn more about our work, visit http://www.connectednation.org/.