News from Blackhawk Hills Regional Council

Regional CEDS Meeting

On November 28th, Janet Rogers, Director of Business Development for iFiber, spoke at the Regional CEDS meeting. Janet presented on why enhanced broadband access is important for businesses and the potential impact of enhanced broadband access on economic development and business activities in the region.

While the project’s focus is primarily on connecting community anchor institutions, businesses, economic development officials, and private individuals interested in fiber optics or wireless may contact their local outreach coordinator with names, addresses, and other applicable information.

iFiber - Broadband Project Update

iFiber will be providing service packets to community anchor institutions that have signed service agreements. The service packets will be delivered by project engineers and will include items such as iFiber documentation, private service provider information, and customer support contacts.

iFiber and Northern Illinois University have partnered to establish the Northern Illinois Monitoring Center (NIMC), which offers year round, 24/7 customer support. NIMC information will also be included in the service packet. Two key components of NIMC are:

1) A network administrator must be designated and registered for each community anchor institution. This can be done by calling 877-753-8100.

2) Anyone who would like to receive email alerts regarding maintenance or problems with the network can register his or her email by visiting www.nimc.niu.edu.

The outreach coordinator for Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, and Whiteside is Daniel Payette. He can be reached at 815-625-3854 or by email at daniel.payette@blackhawkhills.com.

If you would like more information about the Regional CEDS meetings, please contact Blackhawk Hills at 815-625-3854 or by email at info@blackhawkhills.com.