4 DECEMBER 2024
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The decline of the coal industry has driven substantial depopulation in Harlan
Harlan County, a former mining area, has experienced economic challenges for the last few decades, with over 30% of residents declaring income below the poverty line (significantly higher than the 12.5% US average). The decline of the coal industry has driven substantial depopulation, with Harlan losing 36% of its residents in the last 40 years, bringing its current population to just over 26,000.
The overall impact of improved digital connectivity across Harlan County could lead to significant benefits, including:
- Access to good quality broadband infrastructure in Harlan County is far below the US average (with 16.1% of the County unserved by broadband networks, compared to 3.8% nationally). The analysis has demonstrated that improvements to infrastructure availability could lead to $8.7 million of economic benefit to the region.
- In addition, adoption rates of online services are nearly 9% below the US average. If measures are taken to reach parity with the rest of the country, this could lead to a further $5.6 million of economic benefit to the region.
- Improving the availability of broadband could result in over 1,000 people either re-locating or staying in the county, resulting in an economic impact of over $57.2 million.
To tackle depopulation, various programs have been launched in the region to attract people to relocate to Harlan County, including those led by (this will open in a new window)SOAR.
High-speed internet ranks high on the list for those looking to relocate
“Broadband is fundamental to efforts to bring jobs, businesses, and new residents to Eastern Kentucky. When I ask people what they need to relocate or invest, high-speed internet consistently ranks top alongside housing, healthcare, and education. This report shows just how transformative connectivity investments can be for rural communities like Harlan County.”, says Colby Hall, Director at SOAR
‘In addition to picturesque landscapes and affordable housing, high-speed connectivity has been one of the main selling points to Pedro Morgado, one of the case studies of this report. Pedro, who relocated to Harlan from Florida, said that lack of fiber broadband would have been a deal-breaker for him moving to this area, as it’s essential to work from home.
But not all areas in Harlan County are covered by fast reliable broadband, posing a need for further investment to improve connectivity in the county.
Improved digital adoption could result in an additional $5.6 million of economic benefits
‘In addition to infrastructure investment, the county also needs to address broadband affordability and adoption concerns to realize the full economic benefits’, says Andrew Muir, CEO of FarrPoint. ‘Our work has shown that increased digital adoption could result in an additional $5.6 million of economic benefits to Harlan County’.
“Providing access to broadband has been a top priority for the Harlan County Fiscal Court over the last six years. Investments by the federal government, state government, local government, and private sector providers have expanded that access across our county. We still have much work to do in this area to improve access in underserved areas and expand it to unserved zones. We are committed to continually evaluating improving this infrastructure while striving to see it more affordable for anyone who desires better connectivity. Access to broadband is as essential as access to water and electricity in today’s evolving world and broadband is critical to improving education outcomes and creating more good paying jobs.” Dan Mosley, Harlan County Judge/Executive
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About FarrPoint
FarrPoint is a connectivity and smart technology consultancy firm, with offices in Boston, MA and in Canada and the UK.
FarrPoint specializes in advising organizations on connectivity infrastructure investment and deployments through conducting economic benefits analysis, business cases, technical design, supporting procurement and deployment assurance.
