Manning, Iowa -- Representatives from the city of Manning were honored by Governor Terry Branstad and members of Connect Iowa at the State Capitol in Des Moines Thursday afternoon. Manning’s current broadband internet availability qualified the city as a certified Connected Community. The city is only the 9th in Iowa to be certified and is the first community with a population of fewer than 5,000 to earn the designation. Main Street Manning Board President Ron Reischl spoke with Carroll Broadcasting following the ceremony and talked about what the designation means for Manning.
Reischl says Manning’s broadband availability was certified across a number of key scoring areas including access and usage. The city scored 108 points out of a possible 120 during a wide-ranging analysis.
Manning’s highest broadband speeds are currently offered by local provider, MMCTSU, according to Reischl who says there’s always room for improvements.
Reischl adds the award also recognizes Manning’s progressive stance and at the ceremony Governor Terry Branstad acknowledged some of the city’s other accomplishments.
Reischl attributed the city’s progress to its people saying they “tend to band together and work together for the good of the town.” He added the Connected Community certification was made possible by representatives from the school, the city, MMCTSU, the business community, and the hospital. A certification plaque presented at the ceremony will be on display at either the city hall or at the Main Street Manning Office. © 2012 - 2015 Carroll Broadcasting Company. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. - See more at: http://www.1380kcim.com/Manning-honored-at-Capital-as-9th-city-in-Iowa-cer/20673627#sthash.4bQD3cKt.dpuf