Local broadband planning work by WSU Stevens County Extensionand its director, Debra Hansen, and statewide efforts by Monica Babine, Senior Associate, Program for Digital Initiatives with Extension’s Division of Governmental Studies and Services, prompted an invitation by U.S. Senator Patty Murray to take part in the Senate Democratic Rural Summit, held Sept. 13 in Washington, DC.
At the Summit, more than 200 state and national leaders met for panel discussions on issues such as health care, critical infrastructures including broadband and economic growth.
While in the nation’s capital, Hansen and Babine met with members of the state’s congressional delegation and federal agencies. Building on WSU Extension’s work on local, regional and national rural broadband initiatives, the Division of Governmental Studies and Services is lending its expertise with the new WSU Economic Development Council and its priority initiative to expand broadband access in underserved areas of Washington.