Today, my computer is giving me fits a little bit. And today, I’m so grateful I have the skills to work my way through it. So, how fitting that today I am highlighting E2D, a Charlotte North Carolina based program dedicated to eliminating the digital divide. Starting in Davidson County, NC, the program now reaches across the Charlotte metro area with plans to extend services throughout North Carolina. This is not a program from an economic development organization, but it is exactly the type that economic developers need in their communities. It is also a beautiful example of how companies can directly impact the skills of their future workforce (and the financial stability of their future customers) by donating the equipment and funding that fuels the program.
As always, economic developers are facilitators, so read a bit more about the program and get inspired.
No room in your program of work? How about setting up a chat with some of your local foundations and see if you can spark their interest.
It occurs to me that I am often writing about programs that HAPPEN to be in the “Place I’ll Remember”. I don’t even always become aware of them in their original location, because the best of them often serve as models, formal or informal, for other places. Hmm, don’t be surprised if in the future you start to see “A Program I’ll Remember” posts from time to time.