Inland Northwest Partners

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Membership
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
  • Events
    • Current Event Information
    • Online Event Registration
  • Our Partners
    • Investors
    • Investor Level Benefits
    • Inland NW Economic Alliance
  • News
    • INP Blog
    • Newsletter
  • Resources
    • Regional Resources
    • Speaker Presentation Library
JOIN INPSizeUpInlandNW
  • Home
  • Posts tagged "entrepreneurs"
  • (
  • Page 2
  • )
 

Tag: entrepreneurs

Coeur d’Alene company delivers broadband to rural Idaho

  • 0
Robin Ohlgren
Wednesday, 26 June 2019 / Published in News + Updates

This article first appeared in Idaho Business Journal on June 24, 2019. By Sharon Fisher.

COEUR D’ALENE — In many ways, getting broadband internet to rural Idaho feels familiar, said Mike Kennedy, president of Intermax Networks.

“A lot of people are contemplating how similar this is to rural electrification in the 1930s,” Kennedy mused.

As with rural electrification, the government is playing a large part in improving broadband internet in rural areas. Last fall, Intermax received $940,000 to improve service in Idaho’s panhandle from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which offered Idaho a share of the $1.49 billion it provided nationwide through its Phase II grants, funded by the Universal Service Fund. Intermax committed to providing 25 megabit per second (Mbps) download speed to 42 census block groups in north Idaho over the next five years.

In more metropolitan parts of the region, such as Coeur d’Alene itself, there might even be two fiber providers.

“But you get out to Rathdrum or Athol, there are none, and no expectations of it, due to density,” Kennedy said. “We have to figure out how to get those folks plugged in.”

In addition to those cities, Intermax also provides internet service to Hayden, Spirit Lake and Pinehurst, as well as operating Sandpoint’s city-owned fiber optic cable.

Much of Intermax’ service is provided through fixed wireless, which means the company puts a transmitter someplace central and tall – typically, in rural Idaho, the town’s water tower – and puts a receiver, which looks like a satellite dish, on customers’ homes. If the house has a sight line to the water tower, it can typically pick up the signal.

While it might not be as fast as a direct connection, it’s a lot cheaper than laying cable, Kennedy said.

“As long as they have line of sight, or near line of sight, you don’t have to tear up roads and rights-of-way,” he said.

And the speed – up to 100 Mbps – should be plenty, he said.

“Everyone gets excited about gigabit internet,” but people generally need only 8 to 12 Mbps, he said. “25 or 100 Mbps is going to be incredibly groundbreaking for rural areas.”

In one example, Intermax is going to be improving internet access around Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Kennedy said. There are 900 residences in the region that are “deeply underserved,” he said. His company will lay fiber to the top of the mountain, for nine miles, from Sandpoint, following the road and using utility easements. That fiber – aside from supporting conferences and other activities in Schweitzer – will feed the microwave transmitter that’s already on top of the mountain and improve service to those 900 residences, he said.

Kennedy was appointed to Gov. Brad Little’s Idaho Broadband Task Force, which was created in May through executive order. Little came to North Idaho last fall, as lieutenant governor, on an economic development trip, and met with Kennedy to talk about the FCC award.

“I found him to be an extremely quick study, well read and understood things that are completely boring and unsexy, like putting extra conduit in the highway,” Kennedy said.

That extra conduit can be used later to string cable without having to dig up the highway again, a policy underway in a number of areas nationwide called “dig once.” At that time, Kennedy volunteered for whatever Little planned to do to improve Idaho’s internet service, which numerous studies have found ranks near the bottom nationwide.

The broadband task force will help determine the role that the state can play in improving broadband internet in Idaho, such as by offering incentives or tax credits, Kennedy said. And while rural residents used to be fine without broadband internet, that’s no longer true, he said.

“I can’t think of anyone I’ve talked to who didn’t want it on some level,” Kennedy said. “Rural folks can live off the grid, because they have access to their job elsewhere, or can sell products from rural North Idaho. It’s people in rural areas with the greatest needs.”

coeur d'aleneeconomic developmententrepreneursgreater spokaneidahoinland northwestinlandnwinpintermaxkootenai countyrethinking ruralrural broadband

Inland Northwest Coworking Spaces Curate Strong Communities

  • 0
Robin Ohlgren
Friday, 31 May 2019 / Published in News + Updates

The national coworking culture is now fifteen years old. Successful coworking spaces know they need to be more than just secure wifi, free coffee and meeting rooms.

“Coworking spaces have to go above and beyond to stay competitive and thrive—developing niches spaces for certain businesses (legal, fashion and beauty, blockchain, film production), offering unique experiences such as coliving or childcare, plus getting creative by opening spaces in underutilized real estate like hotel business centers or within stores.”

—Madison Maidment, COO of Coworker

Members of MosCoWork in Moscow, Idaho, have the option of renting dedicated desks or part time subscriptions.

One novel idea is an app that connects you with another local option: your neighbor’s living room. Codi, a new startup launching soon in the Bay Area of California, turns apartments and houses into temporary, affordable coworking spaces during the day.

“I used to work from home, and it’s very isolating. When you go to coffee shops, they can be very distracting. And there were no working options close by, and downtown coworking spaces are very expensive.”

—Christelle Rohaut, CEO/founder of Codi

LiquidSpace is a national online network that connects people with spaces.  Users can search for meeting rooms, coworking space, private office suites, brainstorming-ready spaces, event spaces, and, dedicated desks. Searches can be customized to neighborhoods or specific properties to be the first to know of new space availability.

The list of coworking spaces in the Inland Northwest continues to grow, as rural communities recognize the need to attract flexible workforce and encourage a startup culture.

IDAHO CO-WORKING SPACES:
Bonners Ferry: The Plaza Downtown
Coeur d’Alene: The Innovation Den, SpaceShare CDA, Rockford Building
Hayden: Panhandle Area Council Business Incubator
Moscow: MosCoWork
Sandpoint: The Office Sandpoint

WASHINGTON CO-WORKING SPACES:
Liberty Lake: Liberty Lake Portal
Pullman: Crimson Commerce Club (C3)
Harrington: The Post & Office
Spokane: Niche Coworking, Fellow Coworking, Level Up, Regus, and StartUp Spokane

coworkingecondeventrepreneursidahoinland northwestinlandnwrethinking ruralstart-upwashington
  • 1
  • 2

CONTACT US

Inland Northwest Partners

[email protected]
P. O. Box 164 Liberty Lake, WA. 99019
(509) 495-4064

MEMBERSHIP

Find out more on INP Member benefits, events and more.

JOIN INP

BECOME AN INVESTOR

Support the economic growth of Inland Northwest communities.

INVEST IN INP

CONNECT WITH US

Copyright© 2018 Inland Northwest Partners. All rights reserved.

TOP