NTCA Names Senator Amy Klobuchar ‘Smart Rural Community℠ Champion’

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association this week named Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) as the recipient of the inaugural Smart Rural Community℠ Champion Award for her leadership on rural broadband policies that enable community-based broadband providers to build, maintain and sustain networks that empower their communities to thrive.

The award was presented during NTCA’s Smart Communities in Conversation event in Washington, D.C., which brought together federal policymakers, Smart Rural Community providers and other broadband industry leaders for a look at community-based, locally driven initiatives that are spurring digital adoption, economic development and community engagement in rural communities.

“Throughout her public service, Senator Klobuchar has been a champion of sustainable rural broadband networks and a passionate advocate for building more Smart Rural Communities across Minnesota and our entire country,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. “On behalf of the nearly 280 Smart Rural Communities across the country and the more than 850 community-based broadband providers in NTCA’s membership, I would like to thank her for helping us build a brighter future for rural America.” 
 
A Smart Rural Community℠ is about connection — neighbors to friends, teachers to students, doctors to patients, new businesses to customers, and a community to the world. NTCA’s Smart Communities are made possible by carefully vetted, fiber-based broadband providers who are committed to driving growth and creating opportunities — and by the educators, health care providers, farmers, small business owners and other partners who help their communities thrive. Learn more at www.smartruralcommunity.org.