Twenty million dollars are headed to Richland County to improve broadband across U.S. Route 30, which runs through many rural parts of the state.
The project builds on efforts in Richland County to attract economic development to the area, as well as the state's effort to bridge the digital divide in rural areas.
Dorey Diab, president of North Central State College, came up with the idea to invest in broadband after seeing some of his staff and students struggle with access to high speed internet, he said.
Especially in a rural environment that we live in, right? The further away you are from the city, the less capacity you have to access the internet and things like that, he said.
After talking with , an arm of the Ohio Department of Development that aims to bridge the digital divide in the state, Diab and other leaders realized the problem stretches far beyond Richland County, where many communities lack the so-called 鈥渕iddle mile鈥� of broadband infrastructure that connects local networks to the broader internet backbone, he said.
鈥淭here was no middle mile that stretches from east to west of the state, he said.
The state鈥檚 newly approved allocates $20 million for the project that will expand broadband infrastructure across all of U.S. Route 30, helping other counties like Ashland, Stark and Wayne, which will have a positive economic impact on the state, Diab said.
How about if we just go from Mansfield to Canton to the east side of the state and go from Mansfield to Lima on the western side of the state and spur that economic development around Route 30? And then from there, if we provide the middle mile, then we can provide the last mile to everybody, he said.
The last mile refers to delivering internet connectivity to homes and businesses.
You're not going to attract economic development if you don't have internet, let alone high speed internet, Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero said.
The project will also help support the first cyberspace wing of the Air National Guard in Mansfield, he said.
The was formerly a flying unit of the Air National Guard, according to its website.
The community rallied around the unit to keep it operating, Vero said, and in 2023, the facility was designated as a cyberspace wing by the Air National Guard.
鈥淎nything to bolster the strength, and strengthen and cement the 179th to maintain its operation and new mission for years to come, he said.
Officials plan to meet next week to start the request for proposal process to begin taking bids on the project, Diab said.
