Staff writer
Internet servers for Hillsboro and the surrounding community are adequate, but city leaders are looking for ways to meet a bigger need.
“It’s kind of like comparing it to our roads,” Economic Development Director Clint Seibel said. “We have the 13-mile Road (Indigo) that everyone drives on, but we sure would like to have I-35 come through town.”
Seibel said that offering better Internet service would help Hillsboro attract and keep people in the business community.
“Recently a young couple moved here from Kansas City,” Seibel said. “The young man has a home-based business and does all his work from his basement. But since moving here, he has told me he had to modify it and change what he is doing because of our Internet service in town.”
Seibel teamed up with business owners to organize an informational meeting Oct. 18. The main topic of discussion was local Internet service.
“It was basically an exploratory meeting to determine if we did have a need for better Internet service here,” he said. “We wanted to document that we did have people with this concern.”
Seibel said approximately 40 people attended the meeting.
“It will take some action from many people to move forward with this,” Seibel said.
One option discussed was the possible use of fiber optics for the area. Tabor College and Hillsboro schools already utilize fiber optics on their campuses, but that service is not available for the general public.
“If we want to attract the kind of businesses that will make Hillsboro grow, we need to be able to provide dependable, high quality Internet service,” Seibel said.