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CNN to visit Southeastern Minnesota, HBC
For Immediate Release (Sunday, February 14, 2010)
CNN will visit Southeastern Minnesota this week to examine the region’s need for advanced telecommunications connectivity and to look closely at Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc., and its failed application for first-round funding from the broadband component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). HBC recently was informed that its request for funds was denied by both the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
HBC applied for funds with which to extend its services to five currently unserved areas in the region (Minneiska, Miesville, New Trier, the Prairie Island Dakota Indian Reservation at Red Wing, and Wacouta, an unincorporated area southeast of Red Wing), in addition to extending its services to Lake City and Red Wing.
The ARRA broadband program set aside $7.2 billion to be used to build out more broadband throughout America, particularly in places without broadband, with very slow broadband speeds or where Internet penetration fell beneath 40 percent.
As CNN began to examine the ARRA and its impacts, HBC was identified by a number of sources as a firm whose application would have provided the benefits (new jobs, new commerce and new applications) the program is seeking to achieve. Conversations between HBC officials and CNN resulted in the visit that will take place Tuesday and Wednesday.
While in Southeastern Minnesota, the CNN team will visit with residents in Red Wing, Lake City, Minneiska and Winona, in addition to viewing applications the ARRA funding would have created and spending time at HBC’s corporate headquarters at 58 Johnson St., Winona.
Of special interest to the team is the lack of connectivity on the Prairie Island reservation, Minneiska’s desperate need for an emergency warning system and the A-VU Media project to aid seniors and special needs people, scheduled for development in Winona, that would have been jump-started by a successful grant request.
HBC President and CEO Gary Evans said, “It’s satisfying to be identified by CNN as a worthy applicant. We were exceedingly disappointed that our request was rejected. And even though we know the government was buried in applications, we hoped there would be some information available as to why our request failed.”
Evans noted that the deadline for ARRA second-round grant requests is March 15. “We are undecided about another application,” Evans said. “Perhaps CNN will help us uncover reasons behind the rejection that will help facilitate a decision. But regardless of that, it will be nice to have a leading national information source see our beautiful area of the world and meet some of its residents.”
The CNN report will be produced by Emily Probst. CNN was created in June 1980 and has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television networks. CNN has launched many regional and foreign-language networks around the word. CNN is owned by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

For additional information, please contact HBC CEO and President, Gary Evans, at 507.474.4000.

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Mobile Features Include:

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Publish Date: August 24, 2009

Hiawatha Broadband Communications’ Justin Barrientos was nominated for a 2009 Emmy for his play-by-play sports announcing on HBC TV25 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, announced HBC TV25 general manager, Mary Malloy.
“Barrientos is an exceptional talent,” said Malloy. “He has a phenomenal recall of team and individual athlete statistics, be it local, regional or national teams, with an obvious ease in front of the camera. We are very fortunate to have him on our team.”
“I am personally very honored to be nominated for my play-by-play announcing,” Barrientos commented, “but it also reflects on the work we all do at HBC TV25 and the company overall. This is HBC’s first Emmy nomination, so that is really exciting!”
Barrientos competes against Fox Sports Net announcer Anthony La Pante and Timberwolves announcer Tom Hanneman for the Emmy distinction. Awards will be announced September 26, 2009 at the Emmy presentation, to be held at Pantages Theater, Minneapolis.
This is, with a doubt, one of the greatest honors received by HBC," said Gary Evans, president and CEO, "and in my opinion it is totally deserved. Justin is one of the premiere play-by-play announcers in the country."
Barrientos, an all-sports enthusiast, has been employed by HBC for eight years.
The Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is a membership organization dedicated to advancing excellence in television by honoring exceptional work, past and present; providing professional development and outreach; and nurturing the next generation of television professionals.

For more information call: 474-5883 or email mmalloy@hbci.com

Publication Date: August 24, 2009

Labeled one of the nation’s best telecommunications companies by both the venerable Benton Foundation and Broadband Properties magazine, Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc. (HBC) on Aug. 12 capped a summer of distinction by providing advice to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the construction of a national broadband policy.
HBC was among a handful of companies – and the smallest selected – to provide advice to the Commission as it began research into the elements that should be included in the national policy the FCC is charged with developing before the end of 2009.
HBC President and CEO Gary Evans was among nine company executives to discuss how best to accommodate the broadband needs of “un-served and underserved” areas of the nation, generally in rural America, during a discussion at commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was one of a series of such discussion that kicked off the research phase of the program.
FCC official Ian Dillner, organizer of the rural America panel, noted after the session that “your participation led to a lively discussion.”
Dillner also noted that video archives and transcripts of the workshop are being created. The transcript for the Deployment: Un-served/Underserved workshop, he said, is now available on the workshop webpage: http://www.broadband.gov/ws_deployment_unserved.html.
“It certainly was an honor to be selected to participate,” said Evans. “I think that’s indicative of the esteem in which HBC is held by companies and organizations across the nation. It is becoming pretty commonplace for HBC staffers to be asked to comment on issues of national importance because of the work our company has done in rural America.”
Evans pointed out that HBC is the smallest of the nation’s “overbuilders,” or companies that provide competition to entrenched incumbents (such as Qwest and Charter, in the case of Winona). In addition, HBC is the only such company that is profitable.
“We get many requests from researchers to study what we do,” said Evans, “because people cannot believe that we are profitable, given our rural focus, and the fact that we expend many more dollars-per-customer on customer service than our competitors and the fact that we are only such company that invests in local programming.”
“We believe those things are the reasons for our success,” said Evans. “We point out always that we aren’t perfect, but that we work hard to be a little bit better each day. That message was heard by the FCC officials, and I expect the policy to include stringent customer service standards. That will be very good for consumers and we will be proud to have had a role in making it happen.”
Earlier, HBC was singled out by the Benton Foundation, which works to ensure that media and telecommunications serve the public interest and enhance our democracy, to present its story at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. The activity was labeled “Best in Breed Companies Discuss Broadband Deployment.” It was designed to provide advice to the government on how best to use federal stimulus funds earmarked for broadband development.
“With the potential to jumpstart the massive investment needed to build America's information infrastructure for the next century, the $7.2 billion for broadband contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act merits great attention,” said Charles Benton, foundation president. “That is why the Benton Foundation on May 7 held the session that highlighted innovative deployment and sustainable use projects already at work to bridge the broadband divides between rich and poor, urban and rural. The event featured presentations from experts in the field of broadband and included question and answer sessions.”
Evans participated in the session, again talking about things that should not be forgotten as the stimulus dollars are awarded, beginning this fall. Just as he did in his session at the FCC, he insisted that the appetite for service in rural America is voracious, that it is fertile territory for applications development and that its economy is dependent upon high-speed connectivity.
Audio and visual reports on the presentation can be found at: http://www.benton.org.
In addition, HBC in July was named to its Top 100 list by the prestigious Broadband Properties magazine.
The Top 100 list, according to the magazine, “is an elite group of companies that have been researched by our editors, investors and writers. They've looked into what your company has done over the year and they feel that your company is worth writing about.” The magazine plans to share the HBC story with its readers.”

It has been an unbelievable summer,” said Evans. “Obviously all of us at HBC are very proud of the things we have accomplished. And we recognize that without our customers, none of the attention would have occurred.”

Publish date: 3/16/2009

Go Green! Be Green! Think Green!
The world is in love – or at least obsessed – with the notion of Green.
Green means clean, and this should make Kermit the Frog and all his pond pals pretty elated, as the world is finally catching on to the need to think globally and act locally.

In an effort to be good stewards, HBC developed a task force aimed at lessening our company’s impact on our Earth by analyzing our carbon footprint. We discovered that “going green” can be an overwhelming concept and thus are taking a one-step-at-a-time approach to meeting goals.

HBC began a recycling program in all offices that goes beyond the usual paper, plastic and aluminum, to include used video tapes at our television station. This small step was all HBC needed to jumpstart what has become the HBC Green Project.

Rather than using plastic bags for new customer “welcome kits” and retail purchases, HBC now uses recycled paper bags and reusable, recycled cloth bags.

HBC strongly encourages customers to take advantage of electronic invoicing to reduce paper usage. Customers who choose the electronic invoicing will receive notice via email that their invoice is ready for viewing through the HBC website, accessed with a secure code and password. Customers may pay online, mail their payment or stop by the office.

All user manuals and help guide documentation are now available online. This reduces printing costs and paper usage, but also makes the information more readily available.

What’s next on HBC’s green agenda? We are developing a paper usage reduction plan for internal waste. Electronic purchase order forms and fax software allow for paperless ordering. Steps are being implemented to reduce overall energy consumption. Turn off lights when you leave a room. Power down your PC at the end of the workday. Investigating energy saving light options…

In life, it is always good advice to “set the example, rather than be the example.”
HBC is working hard to do just that.

For more information on the HBC Green Project, please visit our website at my.hbci.com/green