The Door County Broadband Office, the Door County Economic Development Corporation, and New North Inc. are doing their part to ensure you can have reliable internet in your community. The agencies are collaborating on a regional broadband summit on October 24th to showcase what has been accomplished and what is still to come. Many Door County municipalities, like Washington Island and the towns of Sturgeon Bay, Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor, and Sevastopol, have already connected with internet service providers to start laying out the groundwork to get the residents the service they need to live and work in the area. The summit comes at a good time for internet service providers to state their case as to why broadband is an important investment. Door County Broadband Coordinator Jessica Hatch says contractors are preparing to make their bids for the next round of Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants, which go a long way to helping municipalities afford the infrastructure needed to connect communities.

The event will feature panels highlighting the impact reliable internet has on secondary residents and innovations that have had a positive impact on education, healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing. The summit will run from 8:30 to 2:30 p.m. on October 24th at Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay. Registration now is open and runs through October 21.