Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn commended the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga and EPB for their efforts to make equal opportunity the norm for all area residents.
Then she challenged EPB and the community to make broadband technology more accessible to people, regardless of their economic status.
“You can’t just put infrastructure in the ground, lay fiber and say the work is done,” Clyburn said at the Urban League’s Equal Opportunity Day breakfast Tuesday. “You’ve got to light the fiber. You’ve got to connect those communities.”
Fiber optics
Now is the time to dust off tools in the arsenal and design a 21st century means of transporting those in digital darkness into broadband technology, Clyburn told more than 540 people in attendance, nearly a sold-out crowd.
Urban League Board Chairwoman Dana Perry said broadband for all residents must happen if America is to continue being a world leader.
“We’ve got to bridge the divide to these technologies to develop our workforce, to educate our communities, because our competitors in the world are doing it,” she said.
The event, which noted the agency’s 33 years of service in Chattanooga, is the Urban League’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
The Urban League presented three awards at the breakfast to corporate and individual leaders who champion equality.
It recognized the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga with its Inclusion by Design Award.
The foundation provides college scholarships to 400 students from families with an average household income of less than $15,000.
“If you see a child who has potential to go to college and the main deterrent is money, I want you to call,” said Pete Cooper, president of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. “It’s the best thing we do, because when you educate these kids you don’t just change the kid’s life, you change their family’s lives.”
Everlena Holmes received the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award for outstanding service by an individual. And EPB’s President and Chief Executive Officer Harold DePriest accepted the Community Impact Award for EPB. The Urban League recognized EPB for making its One Gig Technology available in Chattanooga at competitive prices.
DePriest said EPB knows that inclusion is good business.
“We look for smart, talented people, and it turns out that God had his eyes closed when he scattered those things out amongst us,” he said.
Clyburn applauded the Urban League for its program to start and assist businesses and its more than three decades of service to the Chattanooga area.
But she challenged the organization and the community that there is still work to do.
Broadband is essential, Chattanooga Urban League President Warren Logan said.
“We have to make every attempt to make sure everyone has access. So now the key is what are the strategies necessary to make that happen,” he said. “That’s the challenge she dropped on the community today.”
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.