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Grants boost SCC's plan for global Internet marketing
Southwestern Community College has more than a quarter-million dollars in new state funding today, money college officials say will be used to solidify SCC's position as a national leader in information technology programs and advanced telecommunications services for rural areas.

The two grants awarded by the N.C. Community College System to SCC totaled $280,728. The funds will be used to expand the abilities of the Smoky Mountain Knowledge Network, an advanced telecommunications hub through which southwestern North Carolina public agencies and, especially, small- and medium-sized enterprises can access information and markets around the world.

"These grants could not have come at a better time," said SCC President Cecil Groves. "They arrived the day after Gov. Hunt's announcement that BellSouth, GTE and Sprint have agreed to help bring high-speed Internet service to regions like ours at affordable rates.

"And they certainly give a boost to our efforts to modernize our Smoky Mountain network and put it to work for the whole region. We have a plan, and we're ready to implement it," he added.

One of the grants will provide SCC with $160,228 to establish and equip a state-of-the art e-commerce center to educate and train students, as well as provide advanced technology application assistance to local business and industry.

Three key features of this grant will be the establishment of an Information Technology (IT) Testing center for public use; providing students "at-home distance-learning" access to advanced software applications through an internationally recognized IT training provider; and to upgrade SCC's telecommunications resources and initiate high-speed (digital) global connections.

The second grant gives SCC $120,500 and the central-technology-host role for a new Western North Carolina Electronic Commerce Development Project. SCC will house and operate the super host computer, as well as manage the Web-based learning delivery system for Western North Carolina.

SCC is one of a dozen North Carolina community colleges sharing an overall $600,000 grant for the network.

"We are pleased that our college has been selected as the center for this Western North Carolina e-commerce project," said Groves. "It says a lot about what we already have accomplished and makes it possible for us to continue to enhance our position as a leader in the information technology and telecommunications fields.

"Aside from the economic opportunities opened up for the region, these grants mean that our students will be offered the highest-quality information technology and telecommunications training available on the latest equipment and software. Further, SCC will offer our students and local residents access to an advanced testing center for certifications in technologies produced by such firms as Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, A-Plus and Lotus," he said.

Economic potential

During the last several months, Groves has met with the governing bodies and community leaders in the region served by SCC - Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, as well as the Eastern Band of Cherokees' Qualla Boundary. His message has been that the traditional textile and woods-product manufacturers and mills dependent upon an abundant supply of low-cost labor for their profitability are leaving rural North Carolina and will not come back, learning southwestern North Carolina primarily dependent upon the seasonal tourism industry.

"The future prosperity of southwestern North Carolina depends upon economic diversification, finding hew, high-paying jobs for those lost within the decline of manufacturing in the region," Groves said. "Those new jobs will be information- and knowledge-based, requiring more work with the head more than the hands. Fortunately, we have found that the local workforce, with education and training, can perform those tasks."

The Smoky Mountain Knowledge Network, with its use of advanced telecommunications technology to provide local access to the latest and best information technology and training available worldwide, will allow southwestern North Carolina to diversify its economic base and develop a sustainable economy, he added.

Information Greenway

"It will be an Information Greenway that will open state, national and global markets to the Great Smokes' artists, craftsmen, business men and women who have products, services and even ideas to sell and share," said Gov. Hunt. "All we have to do to make it work for all of us is to determine what is needed - our 'aggregate demand' - and go after the remainder of the needed funding and equipment hand in hand, rather than one at a time. Increased business means and increased tax base communities can use to fund the infrastructure needs many have had to defer in recent years."

President Clinton was at Hunt's side last Wednesday when Hunt announced the landmark agreement with BellSouth, GTE and Sprint, the major communications provides in North Carolina. The seven independent telephone companies and more than 40 small- to medium-sized carriers were expected to cooperate, a Hunt spokesman said.

The governor's announcement was timed to coincide with President Clinton's visit to promote Internet access, especially in economically distressed areas behind what has become known as the "digital divide." On one side of the division are the urban areas having access to low-cost Internet access, and the sparsely populated rural areas, which do not.

"The communications companies have maintained that there is no profit in serving the rural communities," Groves said. "Their agreement with the state should open the door to helping rural areas like ours achieve affordable access to the Internet, especially the small- and medium-sized businesses and industries.

"There has never been a better time for this region to join forces and move ahead quickly."

For the last six months, Groves has served on the N.C. Rural Prosperity Task Force, a statewide panel of educators, professionals and citizens concerned about the growing economic disparity between urban and rural communities.

"We found that the prosperity gap between rural and urban counties is widening rather than closing," he said. "That increased our determination to develop and implement a strategic technology plan as how best to use the amazingly simple and clean information technology resources and acquire the necessary high-bandwidth needed.

"We are at a crossroads," he added. "Historical change may have taken away our manufacturers and mills, but they have not taken away the pride about what still is produced here - the arts, crafts, the real and conceptual products based on cultural heritage, and the great productive capacity of our people given the opportunity to learn new skills such as those associated with the information technology age.

"We like to refer to the telecommunications/information highway as an Information Greenway," he said. "That is because, unlike the concrete that opened our mountains to development and relative prosperity in the last century, this one does not disturb our environment."

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