by Sabrina Simms

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Natchez leaders and representatives sought to move the city into the future Tuesday by broadening their perspectives on broadband connections.

Chamber president Debbie Hudson, Natchez Mayor Darryl Grinnell and volunteer director of FOR Natchez Chesney Doyle sponsored a web seminar — or webinar — in the City Council Chambers called “Cool and Connected.”

The hour-long webinar allowed Natchez leaders to hear from other small cities that benefited from Smart Growth America — an organization geared toward improving everyday lives by working with community officials to strengthen their public access to Internet connections.

“We used this webinar to start the conversation about how we can shake that dusty small Southern town reputation and let people know that you can live and work here,” Chesney said. “You can come here and bring your business. You can stay connected to your colleagues and your clients through the Internet and live in Natchez.”

During the webinar, Eastport, Maine, City Manager Elaine Abbott said her community of 13,000 year-round residents is a tourist destination much like Natchez with commercialized fishing and arts festivals.

She said Canadian islands are visible from the Eastport bay, but the beautiful scenery proved also to be problematic for some visitors.

“We do experience difficulty with some visitors being unable to use their hand-held devices due to the Canadian cell phone tower across the bay,” Abbott said. “Visitors to Eastport need to remain connected and not have to pay for international phone service while they’re here.”

Abbott said Eastport found a surprisingly large market for telecommuting.

“With little industry, how do we attract residents?” Abbott said. “We reached out for assistance through the Cool and Connected program for guidance on a community-driven strategy for leveraging broadband.”

Abbott said SGA’s Cool and Connected program helped Eastport by creating a downtown hotspot for residents and visitors to stay connected without international roaming fees.

In addition, Eastport is making several new changes, including an electric vehicle charging station and a computer work-center with child-entertainment facilities.

“Approximately 75 percent of Eastport’s population is 50 and older,” Abbott said. “We’re looking for a great location for a non-computerized gaming center for children and a co-working space that will also serve for computer literacy classes.”

Communications and Development Director Jay D. Barnett of Zanesville, Ohio, said an SGA workshop helped his community develop a plan with short-term goals to help the future generations of his community compete with larger cities.

“We saw the advertisement for Cool and Connected, and it was a very easy application,” Barnett said. “We appreciated that as a small community. … ‘Why did we submit a Cool and Connected application?’ … This whole technology boom was happening (in surrounding areas.) … If we did not get involved, we would be left behind.”

Opinions on whether Natchez is a connected or disconnected city were as broad as the bandwidth.

“This effort … is to bring broadband access to places that don’t have it,” technical consultant Curtis Moroney said. “I’ve got 150 megabits of bandwidth at my house … at $55 a month. … Cable One offers 10-gigabit broadband speed here in Natchez. … We have got bandwidth. Broadband availability for the vast majority of Natchez is not an issue.”

Moroney said Natchez has the technology that could appeal to younger generations but is not advertising it.

President of Echo Pictures Marc Doyle said he believes Natchez won’t see any drastic change by promoting itself as a connected city.

“Using the opportunity to promote that idea is just one piece of a bigger vision that we have,” Marc Doyle said.

During the discussion, attendees did agree Natchez should file an application with SGA for a Cool and Connected grant to enhance the services that already exist in the community.

Marc Doyle said the technology Natchez needs is already there but can be improved.

“I think that the big questions are who are we and what do we want to be,” Marc Doyle said. “The answers to those questions … could be a great way of getting there.”

Story by Sabrina Simms