emerged with a solution. What resulted was a new network of
fiber optic trunk lines and SONET rings spanning the Mountain
State. The private sector kept its end of the bargain. The state
tendered the promised investment tax credits. This collaboration
put West Virginia on the map for new, high-tech projects and
jobs. It helped modernize our schools. It gave our state a story
to tell and a product to sell. It led, at least in large measure, to
a relative economic boom in West Virginia, where new data
centers, offices and factories were opened on a regular basis.
Unemployment, long a plague for our state at nationally high
levels, reached an all-time low over the ensuing 10-15 years.
There are two important insights here. First, the public sector
allowed the private sector to do what it does best: apply specialized resources to solve problems. The leaders of our state
defined the need, led the change process and stepped out of the
way in developing and implementing the solution. Second, the
state did not attempt to own and operate the systems, nor did
it attempt to maintain the assets. Those duties are too specialized and too technical for any state agency or entity to manage.
The Next Step
How can these lessons be applied today? We can borrow
heavily from the state's playbook, circa 1985. Our governor
can play a vital leadership role again and lead the vision and
the change. He or she can build a preliminary yet powerful base
of legislative support, enlisting the influence of the speaker of
the House, the Senate president, the m ajority party leaders and
other key officials. The governor can, in mid-1980s fashion,
call together a coalition of telecommunications companies and
present the challenge and opportunity to them. Most importantly, the governor can use the bully pulpit power of that office to
compel and require competitors to work together to improve
broadband in the Mountain State. The governor can articulate
the vision and the upside and—with legislative support—offer an
economic incentive to encourage corporations to make specific,
purposeful capital investments in West Virginia. Each corporation can shoulder a portion of the burden, each can share in
the investment, and each can enjoy a slice of the incentive and
market opportunity.
The challenges associated with improving broadband in the
Mountain State are many. Indeed, some are massive. The state’s
population is sparse, and the terrain is sloping and rocky. Our
budgets are strained, both individually and collectively. A collaborative approach to improve broadband, led by a strong
governor and backed by the support of legislative leaders and
cabinet members with leverage applied in the form of a specifically targeted investment tax credit, will prevail. Such an
approach worked once, when West Virginia transformed its
fiber cabling networks to become a leader in telecommunications infrastructure. It worked again when our state needed to
solve its workers' compensation and medical malpractice insurance problems in the mid-2000s, and it will work again. Call it
a public-private partnership. Call it a 1980s, old-school style of
leadership. Call it what you want, but don’t call it impossible.
www.wvexecutive.com
summer 2016
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