Dickenson County
Dickenson County Report
Introduction 147K, about 22 seconds over 56K modem
Narrative 51M, about 127 minutes over 56K modem
April - June '04 Quarterly Summary
Dickenson's Electronic Village, dcev.net, was officially launched April 28. At the April 14 meeting, TLT members had decided that the launch would take place in three phases: one, a local news article describing the procedures for signing up for services; two, a public announcement for the May 23 Countywide Business Appreciation Dinner, including a presentation, promotional materials, and on-site signups; three, a promotional booth to be set up in the July 4 festivities.
Agent Phyllis Deel worked closely with county microbusinesses to develop the Appalachian Legacy gourmet food line. During this quarter, the online store for the organization outgrew its Pay Pal infrastructure and employed a professional credit card processing service.
On June 17, Bill Sanders, incoming Director of the Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV) and Kevin Inman, TOP Grant Program Support Specialist met with Deel at the Dickenson VCE office to discuss the ongoing plans for the Dickenson Electronic Village. They went over the POWER (POWER Offers Web Economic Resources) internship program which is designed to give both local and remote volunteers real world experience working on Website designs for community organizations and businesses, and proceeded to lunch, where they discussed ways Dickenson's tourism goals and activities could benefit from development of Community Connections and Virtual Business Incubator Websites. While they were talking about DCWIN (Dickenson County Wireless Integrated Network), a businessman in the next booth was using his wireless laptop during his lunch break using that same network!
Plans were laid to highlight the DCEV network at an open meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, scheduled for July 20 at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. Members of the TLT will be recognized for their contributions and will provide information on how to sign up for services.
TLT member Kim Carroll developed a bookmark sized rack card for distribution around the county. This card describes the electronic village and outlines villager signup procedures.
April 15, 2004
The following is a summary of the Dickenson County TLT meeting held on April 14, 2004:
- Launch date: APRIL 28--The Dickenson Star has agreed to do a full-fledged
article explaining what the e-village is all about, what advantages
there are to becoming a villager, and the procedure for becoming one.
Two important community activities will provide the opportunity to interact with the public and businesses to promote the site and get folks signed up are the Business Appreciation Banquet to be held May 23 and the 4th of July festivities where TLT members will be set up to enroll folks.
- Before the launch date of April 28th, all TLT members are asked to
make a special push to get at least some businesses and community organization
signed up and calendar of events on there to fill out the site so that
it will look more inviting for folks who go on there to see what it
is all about.
- John with the Chamber had volunteered their now full time staff person
to help in any way that may be needed. We decided that Rita and John
would work with her to get her prepared to make calls to businesses
and organizations inviting them to sign up as villagers.
- We decided to get TLT folks signed up to speak at the three Kiwanis
Clubs to spread the word:
McClure--Phyllis Deel
Haysi--F, do you think that you could do this one--you can let me know.
Clintwood--Rita, did we discuss you doing this one?
- We talked about what some of the key selling points are to folks and
some of them are:
- Networking--the Dickenson County e-village is a community village
where folks can go to get about any kind of information on the county.
It will tie all other electronic efforts together--a one stop for
all other links, too.
- For businesses, FREE ADVERTISING. Also, they can use the calendar
to see what is going on when planning meetings, etc., so that there
will be fewer conflict.
- This e-village is about Dickenson County for the benefit of Dickenson
County folks.
- The calendar will be a wonderful service to everyone, including
small organizations that need a web presence.
- Networking--the Dickenson County e-village is a community village
where folks can go to get about any kind of information on the county.
It will tie all other electronic efforts together--a one stop for
all other links, too.
- We decided to get Jaime scheduled to do a web building workshop. Phyllis will work with Jaime in getting this scheduled and promoted.
January - March '04 quarterly summary
The Dickenson County Technology Leadership Team (TLT) met on February 26 and members participated in the project evaluation process led by P. Gibson, community initiatives specialist from Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). Since Dickenson County carried out a visioning process under a program sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission instead of the Take Charge process that other counties went through, TLT members were in a position to contribute their insights to both the advantages and disadvantages of that process. This gave us an opportunity to compare their experience with those of other TLT members who went through the Take Charge process. TLT members are setting up dates for presentations to the local Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis groups, and other organizations describing this project and its potential contribution to the community. Discussion also centered on how activities on this project can be coordinated with those of the Dickenson County Wireless Integrated Network (DCWIN) project to further support technology advancement in the county. Two TLT members received transition training on March 10 in preparation for their tasks as web site administrators when the Dickenson network management becomes a local responsibility.
The public launch of the Dickenson web site has been scheduled for April 28. The local newspaper has agreed to develop a prominent article that will explain what the e-village is all about, the advantages of becoming a villager, and the procedure for becoming one. The local Chamber of Commerce has volunteered the time of a staff member to assist in calling businesses and organizations, inviting them to register for web sites. Two upcoming community events will also provide opportunities to promote the network, helping local citizens learn more about the site and how they might participate. The county Business Appreciation Banquet to be held on May 23 and the 4th of July holiday event attract large numbers of residents and TLT members will be setting up booths where folks can enroll.
A group of local entrepreneurs who produce both food products and crafts, indigenous to the Appalachian region, have banded together to form a specialty line of products being marketed under the brand name of Appalachian Legacy with the likeness of Ralph Stanley, the famous bluegrass musician from that region. This group has had the opportunity to display and sell their products at a Smithsonian folk life festival and most recently received coverage in the Richmond Times. Advertising on the web has presented some problems for this group in respect to their use of PayPal for collecting fees. They are now moving ahead to establish a secure means for accepting credit card payment in anticipation of a broader marketing opportunity with the launch of the Dickenson County Electronic Village.
October - December '03 quarterly summary
The Dickenson County Technology Leadership Team (TLT), working in cooperation with the citizen group associated with a recent county-wide visioning process guided by the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration and Policy, has developed an action plan for the next two years that includes technology advancement and economic development. M. Mathai, Project Director and R. Roberts, BEV Internet Technology Specialist met with the TLT on Oct 9. Roberts conducted forum training and Mathai spoke about the Virtual Business Incubator and Community Connections package that were being offered in Dickenson County as part of this project. J. Nichols, IT Manager at Virginia Tech who is leading the technology assessment and master plan phase of this project attended the "wire cutting" ceremony for lauching DCWIN (a county wide wireless network) on Oct 13 and met with a group of residents to discuss plans for the Technology Master Plan process.
July - September '03 quarterly summary
A major goal for Dickenson County was to coordinate and build a technology initiative as part of a visioning process conducted this summer in Dickenson County by the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP). The CPAP project, funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, involved a core of government officials, business owners, and educators who were bought together for three sessions to craft a vision statement for the future of the county that would evolve into a two year action plan. Issues explored through that process included quality of life, educational opportunities, job creation, and promoting tourism and natural heritage. Technology was not addressed as an individual component of this process but is integral to each of these areas. Individuals who participated in the visioning process were invited to join the TLT to carry forward the TOP initiative. Newspaper stories and radio announcements detailing the TOP process and inviting interested folks to participate received broad visibility across the county and additional volunteers were secured. Additional TLT members were recruited from the local Extension Leadership Council. The TLT has begun work to focus on technology issues including the development of the community network. At their September meeting, the group reviewed a draft web site prepared by J Shetrone, and made assignments within the group for collection of additional community information for posting. Three members of the TLT are web developers and they are interested in assisting businesses and community groups in building a web presence. They hope to form an association of web builders that could be part of a business incubator and provide their services to businesses who want a web presence. These individuals have also indicated a desire to help churches and community groups become informed as to the value of a web presence and develop a site.
The equipment (software and hardware) needed for running the Community Network in Dickenson County has been deployed and is fully operational. It has been tested by members of the project team and the Dickenson County technology Leadership Team.
April - June '03 quarterly summary
Recent activities in Dickenson County have provided an opportunity for the TOP program to partner with the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP). Several months ago, CPAP was awarded a grant for $10,000 by the Appalachian Regional Commission to support a community visioning process directed toward future economic development. As a result of this process, a list of about 50 community leaders, representing business, agriculture, government, education, faith-based organizations, and civic organizations was developed, and this group was brought together to discuss future economic goals for Dickenson County. Although this process did not specifically address technology, it can serve as a base for continued community planning. P Deel, the VCE Agent in Dickenson County, B. Calhoun, VCE Southwest District Director, and J. Johnson, VCE Area Technology Specialist, met with K. Viars, the County Administrator, to facilitate this process. Community leaders who participated in the CPAP project will be invited to join the Dickenson County TLT. P. Gibson, Community Development Specialist with the Virginia Tech Center for Innovative Governance, who conducted the Take Charge visioning process in the TOP counties, has met with the CPAP program leader to develop a modified Take Charge program that will build upon the recent work.
Dickenson County has as a goal the building of a Wi-Fi Network providing wireless Internet service that will reach 80% of all residents. This system is now operational in the Clintwood and Haysi areas and will be incorporated into the Technology Plan developed as part of the TOP program. Several small business incubators that serve the area including the Cumberland Plateau E-Business Village, the Pioneer Center for Business Opportunity, and the Business Development Center at the University of Virginia at Wise are part of the Southwest Virginia Technology Council and can serve as resources for TOP participants seeking to start a business.
January - March '03 quarterly summary
Jon Johnson, VCE Area specialist met with Phyllis Deel, VCE agent for Dickenson county and Dr. Schlenker, VCE Project Lead on March 6, 2003 concerning Dickenson County’s activities in the grant. Phyllis has a list of members that she would like to recruit for the TLT. They discussed some of the recruiting techniques used in other counties (i.e. radio and newspaper releases and advertisements) that could be effectively used in Dickenson County.
October - December '02 quarterly summary
The Extension agent in Dickenson county, Ms. Phyllis Deel has completed the TOP training and has informed local government officials as to the scope and opportunities presented by this project. Active recruitment of a Technology Leadership Team will begin next quarter.
July - September '02 quarterly summary
Dickenson County is currently in the process of choosing their Technology Leadership Team.
