Now that the adrenaline rush has passed, Greater Lansing can take a moment to reflect on our tremendous shared effort to woo Google to our region and, most importantly, utilize what we’ve learned in order to keep accelerating our community forward. To recap, on February 10th, Google announced they would be seeking applications from communities to pilot an experimental project called Google Fiber for Communities. Google would select one or several communities of 50,000 to 500,000 residents, front the bill, and deploy high-speed broadband internet directly to individual residences. As one Lansing advocate proclaimed, this would enable homeowners to receive “ridiculously fast internet” with speeds of up to 1GB/sec - 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.
Google’s proposal exposed an incredible pent-up demand for higher speed internet in this country and hundreds of communities began feverishly lobbying for the potential billion dollar investment from Google. Several communities, such as, Topeka, KS, Sarasota, Fl, and Duluth, MN, gained national attention for their more excessive attempts to gain Google’s attention.
Greater Lansing also submitted an exceptionally competitive application. Though our community opted not to pursue some of the more fanatical stunts, Greater Lansing’s application possessed a distinct blend of creativity and in the end, our community accomplished something much more substantial than shameless ploys - our community worked collaboratively together. This may sound a bit condescending, but the breadth of our application was the result of not one individual, group or municipality working in isolation. Rather, it was the realization that in order to put our strongest foot forward, we needed to highlight the assets and harness the enthusiasm and resources of our entire region. Thus, here are three reasons to be proud of Greater Lansing for their Google effort.
First, we should recognize the wide array of stakeholders that engaged in pooling together information, networks and most valuable of all, their personal time, to respond to Google’s proposal. At the core of this rapid response team were the cities of Lansing and East Lansing, the townships of Meridian, Delta, Lansing and Delhi, and several other communities in the Greater Lansing area. To their credit, these communities resisted the urge to compete with their neighbors and submit proposals unilaterally. In addition to the municipalities at the table, the rapid response team also had active participation and involvement from local businesses, utilities, grassroots organizations, neighborhood groups, higher educational institutions, and interested Greater Lansing residents. Despite the sometimes divergent interest of all of these stakeholders, each recognized the need for collaboration in this effort.
Second, was the coalition’s alacrity in pulling together a joint application by Google’s deadline. From the moment the rapid response team was formed, until the last wrinkles were ironed out, only four weeks elapsed. In an ideal environment, similar collaborative processes could easily take several months to accomplish. The Greater Lansing region, however, was able to produce a top tier application and we fully expect to receive a second look from the techies at Googleplex.
Lastly, the Greater Lansing for Google endeavor revealed the remarkable talent, expertise and zeal our region possesses. The convening and networking power of Leap; the video know-how and ensuing YouTube hilarity of HOM-TV; the enthusiasm and technical insight from the City of East Lansing and from Kevin Schoen of ACD.net; the grassroots community organizing skills of Lansing Councilwoman, Kathy Dunbar and civic engagement organization Accelerate Lansing; the thousands of community members of all ages who sent Tweets, joined the Facebook Group, or gathered for townhall meetings. The Greater Lansing for Google campaign was truly a community effort and our collective mobilization allowed for often hidden community assets to percolate to the surface.
So, with all of this praise, also comes some continued responsibility. During the recent Michigan Land and Prosperity Summit, Dr. Soji Adelaja of the MSU Land Policy Institute, said that federal and philanthropic funds are lining up for communities that ‘Get It’, referring to those communities that understand the importance as well as the need for regional cooperation going forward. Though we are not certain who will be awarded the Google Fiber for Communities pilot, we can be certain that Greater Lansing will continue to be presented with such opportunities. Whether these are unorthodox opportunities like Google’s, or more long-term and complex federal and state investments, Greater Lansing must be ready to rapidly respond through regional cooperation. Our community has been given a taste of what Greater Lansing, as a whole, can accomplish. We must continue to fine tune our collaborative skills, not let them lay dormant and decay, and ensure that Greater Lansing is seen and acts like a region that ‘Gets It’.