June 18, 2002

The e-Caldwell Steering Committee and the County Board of Commissioners seeks funding to establish two new public access sites targeted to high density economically distressed areas, and geographically isolated areas of the county.

It is the vision of the e-Caldwell Steering Committee that every citizen of our county has access to affordable high-speed Internet service in order to fully participate in a knowledge-based economy.

Caldwell County is a rural community of approximately 450 square miles located in the foothills of Appalachia in western North Carolina. The population of Caldwell County according to Census information is 76,429 or roughly one percent of the total population of North Carolina. The median household income is $32,838 or ten percent below the state average. Furniture manufacturing employs more that 15,000 of the almost 29,000 employed people in the county. This industry is particularly sensitive to economic fluctuations and even now is experiencing slowdowns and a shortened workweek, resulting in increased unemployment claims and greater demands upon human service agencies. Projections for the coming year indicate continued economic slowing. Since many of our families live from week to week, any loss of income can be devastating. During the economic boom, record numbers of Latinos immigrated to the county to work in furniture (from 315 in 1990 to 7650 in 1999), as the economy slows, the choices of this population are limited and add to the increased demand for human services.

According to data received from the Digital Literacy Survey conducted in Caldwell County by the Rural Internet Access Authority, 34 percent of the citizens do not have a personal computer or home access to the Internet. And of that 34 percent, 30 percent (10/31) have annual household incomes of less than 25,000 dollars. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents feel that computers are too expensive. 48 percent of the respondents report not wanting or are not interested in computers.

Data collected by the Closing the Achievement Gap Taskforce found that 42% of the county’s adult population lacks a high school credential.

In 1995, Caldwell County ranked in the lower quarter of the state's counties for its rate of poverty for all individuals, and in the lower third of the state's counties and school districts for its rates of children and school-aged children in poverty. By 1997, the population of Caldwell County was 75,619 with 23,128 individuals, or 31% of the county's population at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines.

It is evident that Caldwell County must act to increase awareness and access to affordable high-speed Internet services and technology training opportunities in order to successfully meet the challenges of the dramatic social and economic changes we continue to face. The establishment of two new public access sites will be a first step in preparing our residents to fully and successfully adapt to these social and economic changes.

Proposed Public Access Sites

The e-Caldwell Steering Committee established priorities for developing or expanding public access sites in Caldwell County. They based site priority on economic and geographic needs.

The main branch of the Caldwell County Library is within a one mile radius of the county’s high density high economic need area, while expanding the number of units at this branch will serve to improve access, residents of this area tend to face challenges related to transportation. Transportation and convenience are issues for citizens who live in the outlying areas of Caldwell County. Currently residents living in the outlying areas of the county must drive 20-45 minutes to reach a public access site. (Caldwell County Needs and Resource Assessment 1997) Therefore, the steering committee used density of economic need and geographic location as the two criteria for establishing additional public access sites for the county.

Sixty-four percent of the respondents who do not own a personal computer agree that they have access to computers at a public site. (Public Library or Community College)

Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute maintain 22 Internet connected computers in their library, however access to these units is limited to the student population. This indicates that the vast majority of the respondents access the Internet at one of our Public Library access sites.

The Caldwell County Public Library and its branches currently have a total of 19 computer systems with high-speed Internet access using the county T-1 line network. Currently the library has 13 public access units at the main branch in Lenoir. This main branch also provides 2 Youth Access computers that have filtering software installed and are located in a Youth Services section of the main branch. The Granite Falls and Hudson branches of the library offer the use of two computers at each site to access the Internet. The Director of the library reports daily usage in the main branch at 60 persons per day and an average of 11 per day at the Granite Falls and Hudson locations. An average of 13 youth access the computers in the youth section daily.

Site Selection

The e-Caldwell Steering Committee is fortunate that two organizations, St Paul A.M.E. Church and The Patterson School have volunteered the use of their facilities to host a public access site. Each facility is located in a priority area.

St Paul A.M.E. Church is located in the counties highest density economic need area. This site will serve residents of the county who face tremendous challenges in attaining educational and economic success. While the majority of the area residents are hardworking blue-collar families, high crime rates, poverty, and substance abuse are often used to describe this section of the county. Members and the leadership of St. Paul A.M.E. provide many additional human services to the residents of this area and continue to work diligently to close literacy and educational gaps experienced by their neighbors. St. Paul A.M.E. members are proud of their community and have invested in the establishment of two programs to improve the social and economic conditions. St. Paul is the host site and administrator for the Spotlight Program. Spotlight is an intervention program designed to provide education enrichment for community youth. They provide activities to assist with educational and character development of children 5-18 years of age. The church leadership has also been instrumental in forming the Harpertown Community Development Corporation. The HCDC mission is to develop, fund and implement programs specific to this area that result in improving the economic and social well being of residents and business.

St. Paul A.M.E. Church has agreed to meet all conditions necessary to serve as a public access site for Caldwell County.

The Patterson School has a long history in serving a geographically isolated area of Caldwell County. The Patterson School is located on highway 268 in the northwest section of the county. The Patterson School is a private, non-profit, co-educational, non-denominational, multi-cultural boarding and day school for grades seven through twelve. The Patterson School is dedicated to providing family-oriented college-preparatory education for the development of the whole person. A Patterson education develops skills, knowledge, experience, and attitudes required for a student to get into the college of choice and to be successful and happy in his or her future life. Instrumental to this success is the development of seven qualities that form the foundation of a Patterson education: Knowledge, Reasoning, Integrity, Courtesy, Health, Creativity, and Versatility. It is traditional to date The Patterson School from the moment in 1909 when the doors of Palmyra Plantation were opened to the first students. While that method is institutionally accurate, this special place also dates back many thousands of years to the Native American use of the "Nickajack Trail" which extended from the Great Lakes to Florida and ran through Patterson. The use of this famous trail resulted in numerous "Indian Trees", mounds, and relics in and around the school property.

The Patterson School is volunteering to open its facility to the community in order to serve as a Public Access Site. As part of their strategic plan, the school is in the process of refurbishing many of its facilities including the library that will house the Public Access Site.

The Public Access Site at The Patterson School will serve residents of our county who must travel 20-45 minutes to reach a high-speed public access site. The community is comprised of hardworking blue-collar families that face the same issues as the residents of high density economic need areas of the county. Though less densely populated the issues of social and economic change are the same. Residents of the Happy Valley area have been greatly affected by the recent job losses in the furniture industry and related service industries. The establishment of a public access site to serve this area will provide convenient access to technology training, educational and job-retraining opportunities provided on-line by Caldwell Community College.

Implementation

To be successful this project will require the participation and collaboration of the county school system, public library, community college, broadband services providers, private foundations, community service organizations, and the faith community.

The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners is committed to increasing digital literacy and access to high-speed Internet services and pledge to use resources to assist in the creation of new public access sites. This will include the donation of hardware (386 with Pentium III processor) that has been deemed surplus by county agencies, grant writing assistance and technical assistance provided by the county Information Technology staff.

The county school system and community college will provide support for the establishment of an E-Caldwell Techforce that will provide basic computer skills assistance to patrons of the public access sites. Techforce members will serve as site facilitators and assist persons in understanding the computer and its functions, how to access and search the World Wide Web, Internet safety, and how to establish an email address.

We hope to gain the support of local community service organizations in establishing a fund that will reward these Techforce students for their contributions to our county. Again we will apply for any grant funds made available through RIAA but we realize that available funding from this source will not be sufficient. Therefore, we will apply for additional funding through private foundation grant programs as well as grant programs that may be available from local community service organizations.

Charter Communications and Bell South local broadband service providers have agreed to assist in the cost of connecting these sites to high-speed service. (Min. 256k) Either provider without substantial infrastructure investments can serve both locations.

Equipment

The St Paul A.M.E. and Patterson School site will be equipped with computers that use a Pentium III processor and peripherals donated by the county. Three units will be housed at each site and have broadband service.

Hours of Operation and Staffing

Each facility agrees to operate a minimum four days per week from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM on weekdays and from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturdays.

Techforce students or volunteers from St. Paul A.M.E. or Patterson School will staff each facility.

Public Outreach

A portion of grant funding will be used to place advertisements in our local print media and the county will provide additional outreach support by producing television segments on each site that will air on the county public access channel.

Sustainability Plan

The e-Caldwell Steering committee views the establishment of these new sites a demonstration projects for additional funding from private foundations and other funding entities. We project that usage and participation data collected over the first year will be sufficient to attract positive attention from these sources.

The County is currently in the process of applying for grants to address digital literacy, and economic development that will provide additional funding support for the sites.

Public Access Site

Budget

Item/Explanation	Cost	In-Kind	RIAA Grant
Utility Cost Contribution 250/month X 12	$3,000		$3,000
6 386 Pentium III and peripherals @ 500/unit	$3000	$3000 Caldwell County
Modems/Routers/Install 1,100/Site	$2,200		$2,200
Electrical wiring 800/site	$1,600		$1,600
Project Facilitator 6 months	$2,700		$2,700
Public Outreach Public Access TV Print Media	$2,500		$2,500
Total	$15,000	$3,000	$12,000