Text Box: Page # Text Box: Create a Business Plan For a Rural Community Broadband Project Text Box: Systematic treatment of a rural community broadband project from nine perspectives in a sound business plan (‘the Plan”) will help minimize downstream financial risks. The nine perspectives should constitute the main sections of the Plan: I. Community Profile For broadband network infrastructure planning purposes, the more specific the information a community can provide to potential investors and other stakeholders about its number of households and population density the better. Accordingly, this Plan should include basic demographics information, such as population, number of households, median income and age distribution. Also include: Geographical description, including square miles, topography and the distance from the next largest community. Economic base, e.g., agriculture, tourism, wood products, light manufacturing. II. Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholders are groups both within and outside the community that would be affected by the broadband network. These represent both potential demand factors (needs and requirements), as well as potential supply factors (assets and capabilities). This section of the Plan analyzes the requirements, wishes and concerns of these groups as they might influence the feasibility of the network. The information gathering that will necessarily precede the analysis should be suited to the size and complexity of the community and could consist of town hall-type meetings, surveys, focus groups, or interviews with key individuals. Stakeholders for a given community could include any of the following groups, as suited to the size of the community and scale of the project: Local and State Government Residents Tourists and/or Business Travelers Foundations Financial Institutions

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