NATOA Announces Recipients of 2017 Community Broadband Awards for Outstanding Broadband Endeavors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 17, 2017 – The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) Board of Directors today announced the recipients of NATOA’s 2017 Community Broadband Awards. Since 2007, NATOA has been recognizing exceptional leaders and innovative programs that champion community interests in broadband deployment and adoption in local communities nationwide. Recipients will receive their awards at NATOA’s 37th Annual Conference, to be held in Seattle, WA from September 11 – 14 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.

“NATOA has been recognizing leaders in community broadband for over a decade, and again in this 11th year of our awards program, we were awestruck by the nominations received,” said NATOA president Jodie Miller.  “NATOA works hard to support local governments in both deployment AND inclusion efforts, and we applaud these extraordinary people, communities, and organizations for their innovation and dedication to improving broadband connectivity for all.”

The 2017 Community Broadband Award recipients are:

• Community Broadband Hero of the Year: Danna MacKenzie, Executive Director, State of Minnesota Office of Broadband Development
• Community Broadband Project of the Year: Longmont Power & Communications, Longmont, CO
• Community Broadband Strategic Plan of the Year: Seattle, WA “Strategic Plan for Facilitating Equitable Access to Wireless Broadband”
• Community Broadband Digital Equity Project of the Year: Seattle, WA “Technology Matching Fund”
• Community Broadband Innovative Partnership of the Year: Garrett County, MD & Declaration Networks Group, Inc.

For more information on the award recipients, the NATOA Community Broadband Awards, and NATOA’s efforts to bring about a national broadband strategy that recognizes the vital and integral role of local governments, visit www.natoa.org or contact Steve Traylor, Executive Director/General Counsel at the number above.

 

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