The following column was originally published in the March 17th Edition of The Herald Dispatch. For more information, go to www.herald-dispatch.com.

Today’s column is going to begin with a little reader interaction. To do this, I’ll need you to put down your coffee. Now, raise your hand if you have complained that the leaders in the 60’s and 70’s let the Interstate bypass downtown Huntington. I imagine there are lots of hands raised and many of you saying how much better our City would be if we just had high speed access to downtown.

Now, raise your hand if you’ve complained about Charleston’s refusal to consider building a regional airport. Again, I’m betting there are lots of hands waiving now. I’ll bet many are saying, “Wouldn’t it have made a difference if we just had great access to the rest of the world?”

Enough “what ifs”! We have another opportunity to provide fast, easy access to the area; and this time we have a chance to have better access than almost anyone else in the country. Create Huntington, Strictly Business, Marshall University and the City of Huntington are collaborating on an exciting project and need your help to make it a success. Later this year, Google plans to select one or more communities to test an ultra-high speed broadband network that could provide Internet speeds 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.

What could this mean for the area? No one really knows. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, I’m sure no one knew how critical the Interstate would be to local economies. We do know that our children and their children will be impacted by our efforts. Ultra high-speed bandwidth will almost certainly drive more innovation: in high-definition video, remote data storage, real-time multimedia collaboration, and provide unimagined opportunities for software developers, researchers, writers and innovators. It will give us an opportunity to compete and win in the 21^st Century economy.

You can help make this happen. In fact, it won’t happen without you. Part of Google’s evaluation of the communities will include an assessment of how badly residents want the super-fast service.

The deadline for you to submit information is Thursday, March 25^th. To do this, you can get details and nominate Huntington at: http://sites.google.com/site/huntingtonwvfiber/ or the Facebook fan page, “Google Fiber for Huntington WV.” We encourage you to be creative: offer a written explanation, post a YouTube video, record a song, or upload some art. Use whatever creativity and skills you have to convince Google that they should select this area.

There are a number of people who would be happy to help you if you have questions or are not comfortable doing this yourself. To learn more, you can:

• Email why@whyhuntington.com with questions,
• Post questions on the Google Fiber for Huntington WV Facebook page, or
• Go to the Pullman Square Starbucks anytime from 5:30 – 9:00 pm this Thursday, March 18^th. We will have volunteers available to help you fill-out on-line forms, record videos, and answer questions.

To learn more about this project, or about how you can make your vision for a better Huntington a reality, join us at a Create Huntington Chat ‘n Chew, held 5:30 – 7:00 pm every Thursday in the lobby of the Frederick Building, 940 Fourth Avenue. For more information, go to www.createhuntington.com.