The following transcript has been edited for length and readability. Listen to the entire discussion here on The Broadband Bunch. The Broadband Bunch is sponsored by ETI Software.
Joe Coldebella:
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Broadband Bunch. We’re at Broadband Communities, 2022, coming to you from the Harrison Edwards, summit studio. I’m Joe Coldebella. Joining me is the president and CEO of The Enterprise Center, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Deb Socia. Deb, welcome to the Broadband Bunch.
Deb Socia:
Thanks so much for inviting me, Joe.
Joe Coldebella:
Hey, it’s a real pleasure to have you here at this event. Before we sort of dig into The Enterprise Center, I would love it if we could start with just a little bit of background on yourself. You’ve had a really interesting journey and I’d love to share it with the audience.
Deb Socia:
Sure. I started my career as a teacher, primarily math, but math and science. So, I was a STEM teacher. I taught middle school, and eventually became a principal. And, as a principal, I worked in a very low-income neighborhood in Boston. I had a middle school of 750 children, and I really wanted our children to have all the resources available in more affluent areas. So, my students had wonderful opportunities. They rowed, they played squash, and they played lacrosse. They had instruments. And the next logical step to that was to ensure every child had the technology. So, we were one of the first one-to-one laptop schools in the country. Every one of my students had a laptop. I really enjoyed that. And I enjoyed helping the parents understand the value of that too, not only to their children but to them. And so, we participated in an existing program to work on digital equity, but we changed that program in our school. We called it Tech Goes Home, and we changed it so that we were really working on quality-of-life issues, as opposed to sort of, how do you use Microsoft Word?
Joe Coldebella:
That’s great.
Deb Socia:
And then when that worked out so well, the mayor asked me to run it for the entire city, which I did. And so, for me, it’s always been about equity. How do we make sure people have adequate and necessary resources? So, from there I started Next Century Cities because I was frustrated that rural folks didn’t have access that urban folks had been redlined, and how are we making sure everybody in the country has access? And I did that for five years and then I moved to Chattanooga to run The Enterprise Center. Ironically, Tech Goes Home, I had brought it there five years prior. So, we ran Tech Goes Home there as well. And so, we do a lot of digital equity work in The Enterprise Center.
Joe Coldebella:
Well, that’s awesome. You were definitely a trailblazer who saw the path, but one thing that I’d love to just sort of touch on that I thought was great, is that you made it, you humanized it, which is something that I think that a lot of people miss is it’s not about learning about Microsoft Word, though. It’s about integrating it into your life.
Deb Socia:
That’s very true. We talked about using technology to live, learn, earn, work, and play better, to improve the quality of life for folks who engage with technology, to use it in the way you and I use it, as opposed to how we think somebody should use it. And so really allowing the folks in the course to guide the process. If you’re a senior, you may really want to learn how to Skype with your grandkids. But if you are a parent, you probably need to use that school portal to check your kids’ grades. So, it depends on who’s in the room, and how you move forward with the curriculum.
Joe Coldebella:
Right, that’s so true. I think that’s at the baseline of everything… there’s what’s in it for me? And if it’s one of those things where if you’re just talking about the features, as opposed to what’s in it for me, I think that you’re not getting people to engage, because it’s oh, there’s something for this for me. So that’s absolutely phenomenal. So, if we could, I’d love for us to sort of the first talk about the city of Chattanooga… why you decided to go there, the city itself in terms of what it’s done and how it, like you, was a trailblazer.
Deb Socia:
I love living in Chattanooga. It’s an interesting city. And I had been there quite a few times in my role at Next Century Cities because they really were the gold standard… fiber to every home in the community, every inch of their electric footprint had access to gigabit service. So, I was really excited about that. I was excited about the way in which they innovate and try new things and support each other through processes. And I always thought, well, someday, I’m going to retire there. I’ve always lived in big cities. I love big cities, but the thing about Chattanooga is, it has the flavor of a big city, it’s got the arts and drama and all kinds of great opportunities for theater. And I’ve just loved that part of it.
Joe Coldebella:
It’s true. It’s about 200,000, correct if I’m saying that right.
Deb Socia:
Just under that.
Joe Coldebella:
Because I’ve lived in New York City. I’ve lived in cities bigger and smaller. And I think you’re… it’s you don’t want a town that’s too small. But if something gets a little bit larger like New York City, it does definitely get overwhelming. So, in terms of talking about cities, there’s a question or a phrase that goes around the broadband world, and it’s the phrase, Smart City. I was wondering if you could sort of define that for me.
Deb Socia:
I kind of laugh when I hear that, because I think there are many definitions as there are people. No two people really define it the same, but in my mind, it goes back to equity. A Smart City must include everyone. Everyone has access to resources and opportunities and not just having access or the opportunity to engage… engaging is part of that. So, it’s not just about an effort, but about an outcome. How are we helping people improve their quality of life through the use of technology?
Joe Coldebella:
That’s a pretty good definition though. But it’s also one of those things was… so you’ve got Chattanooga, the city that’s doing these tremendous things with broadband, yet not everybody is sort of on the train, so to speak. And I think that’s where The Enterprise Center comes in. So, I was wondering if you could sort of just give us a little bit of a definition of terms of what you were thinking when it all started.
Deb Socia:
Well for Chattanooga, one of the challenges is that there is a state law that limits both its footprint and its capacity to give free or low-cost services. And so, we had to find a way to make broadband affordable to folks because of the state law. So, what I love about Chattanooga is they are willing to take on a big old, chunky problem like that. And we did, and we connected, so far, 16,000 low-income students, which is a third of the students in our district, to home access at no cost to them, 300 megabits symmetrical, in most cases, for at least the next 10 years. So big challenge requires big intervention and this big intervention happened because there were so many partners at the table.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s fantastic. And the reason why I think it’s so vitally important is that Chattanooga has sort of becoming sort of a tech hub. Obviously, you’ve got the big one, Silicon Valley, Austin, New York City, but it’s sort of like this… Chattanooga is almost Hey, we’re coming up. And if you don’t give the residents there, the opportunity to sort of interact with these tech startups, it’s such a missed opportunity.
Deb Socia:
I agree. I think we put a lot of energy into our innovation district in helping entrepreneurs and tech startups of all flavors to move forward in their trajectory. But we can’t just limit it to that because there are people all over Chattanooga. Chattanooga has a great history of entrepreneurship. They don’t all come to the innovation district for support. So, we actually bring support out to neighborhoods. If we’re not taking care of everybody, we’re not a Smart City.
Joe Coldebella:
Right. That is a really… a point that I think that’s really important, which is in terms of digital equity if you could sort of talk about that in terms of some of the things that you guys are doing to sort of give these opportunities to folks that desperately need them.
Deb Socia:
Tech Goes Home is definitely one of those things. We run Tech Goes Home for people of all ages… parents, unemployed folks, seniors, and people with disabilities. We have a wide range of programming. We are, in fact, now running a senior program in our whole region and an early childhood program for early childhood educators all the way across the state. So, we’ve grown quite a bit. The project has really impacted the capacity for families to be engaged in their child’s school, to be engaged in learning opportunities, and to apply for jobs. It’s really helped a lot in that regard. I think the program itself has so much value to a community because when we get everybody online, we can make different decisions about civic engagement and opportunities to participate in civic life.
Joe Coldebella:
And it’s one of those things, as well… one of the things that I really like about Chattanooga is that it’s a very forward-thinking city in the sense that broadband is not going away, it’s actually accelerating. And so, it’s one of those things that we have to make sure that everybody is going in the same direction, otherwise, it’s just going to be chaos.
Deb Socia:
And I’d love to give you an example of what we’re doing in one neighborhood. We have a neighborhood in Chattanooga, Orchard Knob. It is a historically underserved neighborhood… lower-income, by far than the average in Chattanooga, and we are working in Orchard Knob with a grant from TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority, to provide… make sure everybody has access to the internet, make sure they have a device, teach them how to use it, help them understand how to do Telehealth appointments. Parkridge Medical, which is in the neighborhood, is giving a thousand free Telehealth appointments.
Joe Coldebella:
Super valuable.
Deb Socia:
We’re working with other folks to put in air quality sensors because we have very high asthma rates. We’re working with other folks to help us put in smart thermostats. We’re fixing roofs. We’re helping with a bunch of different resources. And again, it’s that opportunity to bring together a whole lot of partners who do really good work to invest and support one particular neighborhood and to create a playbook so we can replicate it elsewhere.
Joe Coldebella:
And I think that’s just a fantastic example because it’s not about strictly broadband downloading and seeing things from the internet. People need to understand that broadband is more than just downloading or looking on the internet. There’s a world that’s opening that we… that’s coming, and those are great examples of what you guys are doing. It’s fantastic.
Deb Socia:
Well, we really want people to be creators, not just consumers.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s a great point. I love that.
Deb Socia:
And so thinking about how we can help people use the internet again, improve their quality of life, get a job, work from home… I think all of those are very valuable opportunities that it would be unfortunate if we allowed this moment in time to pass without addressing it.
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. Awesome. I would love to sort of quickly touch on workforce development. I know that you guys have just launched a new program and I would love for you to give us the details.
Deb Socia:
Sure. There are a lot of partners in this… the city, Chattanooga State, and so the interesting thing about the project is that we worked with Google. We’re doing Google certifications. And it’s an independent course, but it’s hard to complete an independent course, especially if you’re working a low-paid job, you’ve got kids… how do you manage that? So, we thought, what are all the barriers that are preventing people from getting that next level of training to go get that better job? So, we removed all the barriers. We created a cohort model. They meet every day for eight or nine weeks. There is a proctor in the room. We have run Tech Goes Home for them, in the beginning, so they’ve got basic digital skills. We make sure there’s childcare. We pay them a stipend, so they can quit that low pay job to participate. And we have it in the neighborhood. So, it eliminates transportation as an issue.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s fantastic. And just out of curiosity, what sort of feedback is getting from the folks? They must just be over the moon with the opportunities.
Deb Socia:
They really are. And it’s interesting because Chatanooga State, which is a really great organization to work with, is giving 12 credits for that Google certification training. So, they actually can continue their education, and get an associate’s degree. But the really neat part is that folks are getting jobs. So, if you’ve been working for a low pay job, maybe $10 an hour, and all of a sudden you’re making $45,000, well that really has an impact on your life. And especially if you get a job with insurance.
Joe Coldebella:
Absolutely. And it’s one of those things, as well, as a lot of those low-paying jobs are going to be disappearing because of AI and machine learning. And it’s one of those things where we need to make sure that we give folks a direction to go because if not, it’s definitely not a good situation.
Deb Socia:
And we definitely need more tech workers. So, we sometimes import them. They move to Chattanooga to take jobs, but we also need to grow them. So how are we thinking about the students in middle school and high school and how are we thinking about internships and learning opportunities post-high school? How are we helping students move into those jobs that are available?
Joe Coldebella:
Absolutely phenomenal. And it’s one of those things where… so you’re doing all these fantastic, wonderful things. I was just wondering, do other communities sort of reach out to you and say, hey, listen can we ask for some advice or help?
Deb Socia:
Yeah, it happens quite a lot to be honest. And we are always happy to help. We will always provide whatever we’ve got free of charge. If you wanted to run a Tech Goes Home program, it’s available. We can tell you how to run it. If you want to do some of the other work we’re doing, that’s all available, too. We will walk you through it. And our goal is not to solve just the problems of people that are our neighbors but to solve the problem more broadly.
Joe Coldebella:
It’s almost like you’re a template. And so, it’s Hey, listen, we’ve made a lot of the mistakes that we’ll stop you guys from making. That’s phenomenal.
Deb Socia:
That was exactly what I was going to say. We already made all the mistakes. So don’t make these mistakes we learned.
Joe Coldebella:
So, as we sort of wind down the interview, I was wondering… so what we do with all our guests is, we love to ask two questions. The first question is our back to the future question, where I get to give you the keys to the Delorean. You get to go back 3, 5, 7, 10, in your case, 20 years. And if you could sort of whisper in your ear or whisper in someone else’s ear a little bit of advice or a little hint as to make the journey a little bit easier, what would that be?
Deb Socia:
If I could go back in time and get all the legislators to support local decision-making on building broadband, I would, because there are areas and places in our country that nobody wants to build. We ought to let whoever is there, do it themselves, right? So, if you’re in a rural community and you’ve got a co-op, that co-op could help. If you live in an area that has a utility, that utility can help. If you don’t have either of those, you can still build it, but just really make it possible for everyone who wants to enter the space to do it, because we haven’t solved this problem yet.
Joe Coldebella:
Right. No.
Deb Socia:
We have a lot of people in this country without access at any cost. And so, this is really problematic.
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. I love the answer, but I need to ask you the converse as well. If you could unfurl the crystal ball, look a few years into the future, 3, 5, 7, 10 years, where do you see broadband in general… The Enterprise Center?
Deb Socia:
I’ll tell you what I pray for. I really would love to be able to make sure everybody in this country is connected. We have a lot of money coming right now. We can do this. We just have to be smart. And I pray that we’re smart enough to do it right this time because we aren’t going to get another dose of money like this.
Joe Coldebella:
Right. The influx is massive. And so, I agree. It’s like one of those things were… and now is the time to act as well. It’s still on people’s minds. It seems as though we tend to go to the next shiny object. So right now, broadband is the shiny object. And it’s time for us to make sure that if you’re in a town, or whatever, and you want to create a center like yours, now’s the time.
Deb Socia:
There’s no more standing still because you either move forward and make sure that the people in your community are connected, or you’re falling behind. So, we really have to be thinking proactively and solving our own problems.
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. Awesome. Just, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Deb Socia:
I can’t think of anything.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s fantastic… because I mean, we definitely have covered a lot, but let’s say there’s someone in a town or city that would like to find more about The Enterprise Center, where’s somewhere they can go?
Deb Socia:
Well, they could come to our website, which is The Enterprise Center… center is only CTR… www.theenterprisectr.org
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. Deb, this has been an absolutely awesome visit. Truly appreciate you and everything that you and your folks do. Thanks so much. I would love for us to catch up maybe later this year or in the future, because it’s what you do is awesome work.
Deb Socia:
I have a great job. I enjoy it every day.
Joe Coldebella:
All right, everybody, that’s going to do it with this episode of the Broadband Bunch. This is Joe Coldebella, and we’ll see you later.
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