Cumberland
CumberlandFirst.net was deployed on October 2, 2003. Since then, it has attracted over 3,000 unique visitors and increasing numbers of listings on the village directories and community calendar. The Technology Leadership Team (TLT) in Cumberland has established partnerships with several educational institutions to promote technology training that will help to ensure a core of trained citizens for continuing technology and economic development. Several community activities for marketing the Cumberland site have been put in place. The unique accomplishments of the Cumberland program are described below.
- The local leader of the Cumberland County program assembled a TLT comprised of committed, intuitive, and technologically competent volunteers. The Cumberland TLT represented a diverse group of members with differing skills and affiliations from many geographic areas and agencies within the County, and individuals have taken on important leadership roles. Cumberland was one of the first counties to assemble the content required for their site, a major accomplishment of the TLT.
- The Cumberland TLT established a major connection between the Take Charge process and the Cumberland First site. The overall goal of the TOP project was to prepare rural counties to move ahead in the Information Age, and in this light it provided not only the tools for technology, but also encouraged the use of that technology to develop leadership and community capacity for shared decision-making. The Cumberland project addressed this goal in several ways. First, the Cumberland Take Charge program attracted the greatest number of participants of any County who carried out this process, and the majority of those attending had not taken part previously in a community planning process. Second, Cumberland First.net has a location for Community Concerns where the Goals for 2020 developed through the Take Charge process are posted. Finally, the Discussion Forum on the Cumberland site has gone live, and invites the responses and input of County residents to various issues. At this time the Cumberland site is one of only two TOP sites with an active Discussion Forum. Recurring government meetings including the monthly meetings of the Cumberland Planning Commission, the Cumberland Board of Supervisors, and the Cumberland Public Schools are posted on the Community Calendar, along with the agendas.
- The Cumberland TLT has provided a model for future projects in the development of technology workshops for County residents that include both introductory and for-credit classes. Strong partnerships with the Cumberland Public School System, allowing use of the Cumberland High School computer lab, and the Southside Community College led to the offering of both credit and noncredit web design classes. Teaching the five session for-credit course in the convenient and familiar location of the high school likely added to the strong community response to the class. A four session introductory class on basic computer skills taught by TLT members assisted residents just getting started in technology. The goal of the TOP project at the time of its creation was to bring in people who had limited technology backgrounds at the start. Cumberland has enthusiastically endorsed this goal by assisting those for whom web site development is a new experience. These workshops fulfilled the true purpose of promoting small family businesses and entrepreneurship.
- Several new enterprises are being established that will bring new business to the county through the marketing of their products or services on the Cumberland First web site and also help the county retain dollars that may currently flow elsewhere. Internet advertising can also reap economic benefits from new customers in locations outside of Cumberland or even outside of Virginia. Ten businesses have registered for Virtual Business Incubator accounts. Twenty-one business owners participating in the web design workshops completed web sites that are now linked to the Cumberland site. The TLT has established a web site template on their site to assist business owners in developing their web presence, and the web site administrator has assisted new web site owners in creating the link from their site to Cumberland First.net.
- Cumberland First has attracted the attention of local residents as well as Internet users from outside of the County. The total number of visits per month reached a high of 819 in June with a total of 6,191 since the site was opened to the public. The number of unique visitors has continued to grow steadily month by month, for a total of 3,360 over the past 12 months. This is rather significant for a county having a total population of about 9,000 (based on the 2000 census). The number of visits in June likely related to the Patriot Day celebration and emphasis on technology. The site location of greatest interest has been the business directory followed by the organization directory and the community calendar.
- The partnership established between the Cumberland TLT and the Cumberland Public School System has the potential for long term benefit to the residents and students of the County. The 'Learn to Serve' program funded by a grant of $30,000 from a private foundation will benefit the business community and provide important technology and work force training for high school seniors. The students will set up business links to the Cumberland First site and develop promotional materials to enhance economic development in Cumberland. They also will assist local businesses in developing a web presence describing their goods or services. Through these activities the students will develop their own skills in web design and receive training in how to teach others. This three year project will end in March 2007.
- The Cumberland TLT took advantage of some unique opportunities to publicize their web site and make others aware of how technology can be useful in everyday life. Patriot's Day is an annual community event for which residents are encouraged to dress in period costumes. If adults or children do not have costumes available, they still can be photographed behind cut-outs of costumed figures that show their face. TLT members took digital photographs of both children and adults at Patriot's Day. Each person received a disc to take home that contained his or her picture and also the web address of Cumberland First. Opportunities to sign up as a member or register a business or community organization on the appropriate directory were made available at local youth athletic events drawing large numbers of Cumberland residents.
- The Cumberland program encouraged the use of Community Connections accounts to support web sites for nonprofit and community service organizations. Currently, 11 groups have registered for a Community Connections account, the most of any county.
- The TOP program and Cumberland First network brought intangible benefits over and above the technology that was introduced. TLT members appreciated the opportunity to meet and work with people that they had not known before. One member mentioned that residents from all areas of the County were willing to come together in a central location to work on a common goal, a new paradigm for Cumberland County. In addressing the overall impact of the project in Cumberland one TLT member noted 'the introduction to technology has created an environment where people want to learn.'