Sponsored by K&L Gates and Broadband Associates, the event led off with a provocative presentation from Jim Kohlenberger, Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who set the tone for an informative agenda featuring incisive commentary from experts on a variety of broadband stimulus topics. Governmental entities and industry are preparing for the upcoming Notice of Funds Availability (NoFA) from U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The next webcast in the series on July 9 will be a workshop that will help participants understand and apply the NoFA guidance to their grant proposals.

"The President understands the vital role that technology and communications infrastructure play in this long-term future and our short-term economic recovery, which is why he made it a key component of his economic stimulus program," stated Kohlenberger.

"We really are on this precipice of exciting new technology-driven transformations and harnessing the full power and potential of broadband that really can improve the lives of all Americans in immeasurable ways," Kohlenberger continued. "Since World War II, half of economic growth has come from innovation. And in the late 90s, when we similarly pushed an Internet strategy and tech agenda, we saw two-thirds of economic growth come from Information Technology investment. And when we do create jobs in the IT world, they're jobs that pay on average 85% more than other private sector jobs." Kohlenberger asked participants to create new partnerships and ideas for broadband applications and commented, "We have a great deal of work ahead of us and I'm glad you're participating in this Town Hall today to help get these ideas going."

"We're pleased to see such huge on-line participation for this event, as we have with our other stimulus webcasts on NLC TV," commented Dave Gardy, Chairman and CEO of TV Worldwide, which produces NLC TV in cooperation with the National League of Cities. "This broadband-focused webcast was accessed by senior level city officials nationally and on the commercial side, 20% of the participants were C level executives. Many were still signing up as the webcast ended, in anticipation of the archive, which is now available. Now that this is viral, for the July 9 event we project doubling or tripling the traffic, especially after the guidance comes out."

Webcast co-host Marty Stern, of K&L Gates, remarked, "In listening to our panelists, I was struck by the diversity of projects in terms of size, focus, and geographic reach. We heard about projects that will bring broadband to the Navajo people in New Mexico using innovative wireless solutions, satellite broadband that will serve some of the most rural areas in the country, and a service platform that will be bring an array of healthcare, video, and informational service to the elderly and disabled using the power of broadband. The challenge for all these projects, which we'll cover in our next session, is how to tee them up in grant proposals that maximize the chance for success."

Drew Clark, Executive Director of Broadband Census.com, said, "The federal government's broadband stimulus program represents a unique confluence of technology, politics and telecommunications. Broadband is clearly the infrastructure of the future for our economy and our society. The choices that the NTIA, the RUS and the Federal Communications Commission make over the coming months could impact the way we communicate for generations."

The June 4th NLC TV Broadband Stimulus Town Meeting Webcast is now available for viewing at http://www.nlctv.org/events/broadbandstimulus_thm/090604/  Viewers should have the Windows Media 10 or above player installed to properly view the webcast.

The webcast agenda is as follows: Hosts: Drew Clark, Executive Director, BroadbandCensus.com Marty Stern, Partner, K&L Gates Introductory Remarks Jim Kohlenberger, Chief of Staff, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy The Broadband Stimulus and Tribal Initiatives Deswood Tome, Executive Director Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

Scoring Grants -- This addresses the latest thinking on how projects will be evaluated. What we know and what we've learned from other grant programs that can be applied to the Broadband Stimulus:

-- Lisa Scalpone, Vice President of Legal and Government Affairs, WildBlue -- Rich Wonders, VP Strategic Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent -- Scott Wallsten, Vice President, Research, Technology Policy Institute -- Joanne Hovis, Columbia Telecommunications Corporation

Show me the Money -- What sources of private financing are available to help capitalize broadband stimulus projects

• John Badal, CEO, Sacred Wind Communications
• James Owen, Director, Bank Street Group
• Tim Nulty, Chairman, ECFiberNet, the East Central Vermont Community Fiber-Optic Network

Public Private Partnerships -- What are they expected to look like and how important will they be to a successful grant application (invited panelists):

• Jim Baller, Baller Law Group
• John Goodman, President and CEO, A-Vu Media
• Jonathan Banks, Senior Vice President, Law and Policy, US Telecom
• Dan Gillison, National Director, State and Local, and Public Safety Sales, Sprint Nextel Corporation