Western Colorado will soon offer high-speed internet hookups in every county that match the performance and price you'd find in an urban area. By the end of 2002, every county in Western Colorado will offer a high-speed optical network capable of providing integrated voice, video and data. The program, called the Multi Use Network, connects the high speed network to the county seat and is a partnership between local county governments with State and private backers.

The good news for business is the opportunity to connect into the system at a substantially lower cost than ever before. In Glenwood Springs, Colorado's first city-run broadband network and 1 of just 13 in the country, every resident and business has inexpensive access to a high-speed internet connection. Broadband access, which had been available for several years for residents, ran about $65 a month. Now, the city plans to offer it for $25 a month to residents for a 155 megabyte per second connection and about $250 a month for a very fast, 256 kilobyte direct connection for businesses.

As the Multi Use Network is completed, these kinds of broadband opportunities are becoming available in every community in Western Colorado. For more information, contact the local county government, Qwest, or the project hotline at 1-866-MNT-COLO.

TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION

Colorado has also taken important steps to ensure a supply of tech-savvy employees. Efforts include:

• The Colorado Institute of Technology—A program with universities across Colorado that focuses on creating and training quality workers. To date, the program has created 5,000 new tech workers and introduced technology to 12,000 K-12 students in summer programs.
• AOL@ SCHOOL-Colorado is one of just two states chosen by AOL Time Warner for its AOL@SCHOOl program. The free program for public and private schools offers a search engine that guides students through research and points them to age-appropriate resources.
• The Colorado Technology Alliance (CTA)-Created by Governor Owens, the Office of Innovation and Technology and the Governor's Commission on Science and Technology, the CTA serves as a statewide economic development group, working with local economic development groups and Chambers of Commerce to tackle technology industry-specific issues. The CTA also offers a web portal for sharing and exchanging technology information. The data is organized by category and by geographic region to ensure that rural Colorado has the same access to information as the Front Range. Their web site, www.coloradota.org, soon will feature GIS maps by ESRI, the leading company in GIS software.