Members Present

Steve Reynolds, Jerry Edens, Dick Bartlett, Rick Moorefield, Charles McCann, Jim Anderson and Marcel Fortin

Guests Present

Partners Present

Approval of Minutes

Motion: Charles McCann Second: Jerry Edens All vote Yes

Correspondence

Unfinished Business

1. “ WV. Distressed Communities Broadband Assessment Project” (BAP)

Final report due for Benedum by Jan. 31,2007. Work being completed on the project. Benedum funds have been expended , Providers funds being utilized to wrap up of the project.

Marcel discussed the success of the project and how the data from the BAP has shown providers and others of the interest in broadband in rural areas.

2. 05/06 Benedum Grant

Final report completed and submitted. Project accomplished all the goals set forth in the grant and projects are in place to continue the support of the Alliance. Thanks to all that made this effort a success!!

Marcel reviewed the grant which was focused on getting the Alliance 501c3 status and the ongoing outreach efforts for our Champions.

3. Appointments of Directors/ Election of Officers

Election of officers set for March 21^st meeting. Nominations and appointments for directors to be requested for the Feb. 21^st meeting. Terms to begin July 2007. All interested parties need to contact Marcel prior to the Feb. meeting to be added to the list of potential candidates.

Marcel requested interested parties for the officer positions to contact him.

4. AllianceWV.org Website

Continued input on how to best utilize the site and to increase hits to the site. Suggestions are welcome.

Steve Reynolds was recognized for his work on the site. Due to the AP story about the Broadband Assessment Project the site has seen an increase in visitors and inquiries.

5. Coal Connectivity Grant

Projects working with Coal companies are ongoing. Anyone interested in setting up meetings with coal operations in their communities to discuss how the Alliance can help in getting broadband to their remote sites, let me know. I would be very willing to make a presentation outlining what is happening.

Discussion on how the focus on the coal industry to deal with safety issues from the Sago and Aracoma tragedies have slowed progress. The coal industry has committed to continue their commitment to this effort.

6. Benedum Minigrant Project

The Alliance has been awarded a $350,000 Community Technology Minigrant Grant for 2007. Application was made and work is in progress for the final details of the project. Details will be provided as soon as available.

Marcel discussed the details of the project and where the group was on getting the applications out. Mary Hunt-Lieving requested a meeting of the Alliance and Community Connect Foundation to get and idea of what details we were proposing. A date will be set to meet

Jerry Edens recommended that we acquire liability insurance for the officers and board members. Funds for the grant have been deposited and the interest accrued could pay for the insurance. Jerry was to research several companies and get the information to Marcel.

New Business

Reports: Community Reports

The reports presented last meeting showed the progress from the champions in attendance.

We need to hear from the others so we can share experiences and best practices.

Rick Moorefield discussed the WVU extensions statewide E-commerce initiative and offered the training to all members. He recommended that members visit www.connectcommunities.info/index.cfm to see what effort the extensions were doing to discuss broadband and technology.

Speaker:

Conference call meeting – no speaker

Next meeting:

Feb 21, 2007 Conference call meeting

Adjournment

Motion: Jerry Edens Second: Jim Anderson All vote Yes

Adjourned 11:15am

Respectfully submitted 03/14/07: Marcel Fortin