BOSTON - A telephone cooperative in two depressed Kentucky counties may have found a good path to economic development in poor rural areas - through super-fast broadband.

The Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative serves 18,000 people in Jackson and Owsley counties in Kentucky - one of the poorest areas in the country due to the collapse of coal mining. PRTC CEO Keith Gabbard said during the Great Recession, they moved to connect every home and business to the internet with gigabit-capable fiber.

He said it was very expensive, but it made possible a boom in tech support work with companies such as U-Haul and Apple.

"We've seen over 1,000 jobs created; work-from-home jobs," Gabbard said. "They have benefits. Some of these people are working for Apple, they're doing tech support for Apple. And all of them are paying more than a lot of the minimum-wage things that are available around here."

Gabbard said it cost $50 million, an average of $5,000 a mile, because it's especially expensive to wire the last mile to buildings. But he called it the best investment they've ever made. Along with the general improvement in the economy, broadband helped cut the unemployment rate by two-thirds - from 16% at its peak to 5% now.

Like some of western Massachusetts, eastern Kentucky has suffered in recent years. Not only has it been hit by changes in the energy markets, it's also faced problems such as the opioid crisis.

Gabbard said areas with broadband tend to have better school test scores. And he said through telemedicine, they've been able to help local veterans skip the three-hour round trip to the nearest Veteran's Administration clinic in Lexington.

"We worked out a partnership with our local public library and we equipped a room," he said. "And now the veterans can actually have doctor appointments and go on there and talk to them via the computer."

About one-third of the money came from grants, 60% from loans and 10% from capital the co-op had saved, Gabbard said. He added that, with some help from their successful business as the local cell-service provider, the broadband venture has been able to meet its debt payments.


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More than a year after City of Richmond workers filed to vote on a union contract, they are celebrating its implementation.

The contract provides workers with an established grievance process, updated health and safety guidelines, and labor management committees to help improve different departments. Workers described the moment as everything they have waited for.

Felicia Boney, management analyst associate in the Department of Social Services for the City of Richmond, said it sends a message to other cities about the efficacy of treating workers fairly.

"The economy has changed," Boney pointed out. "People are looking for better employment, better benefits. It will improve retention of the employees and if employers are treating their employees like they should, it would benefit them."

Cities like Alexandria, Portsmouth, and Newport News are all in different stages of the unionization process. A 2021 poll showed 68% of Virginians favored letting public employees unionize.

Boney noted there was plenty of give and take from the city and workers, making it quite a process to reach this point but with things in place, she emphasized the city is eager to start working with the Joint Labor Management Committee.

Another reason for the contract's implementation is making the city more competitive in hiring. The hope is to attract people to jobs in understaffed departments. She stressed workers are eager to see what lies ahead in a new chapter of Richmond's history.

"We love our jobs, we really do," Boney added. "We just want to be able to be better at doing what we're doing, and I think this gives us an opportunity to do just that. We want to make Richmond great again and I think this is one of the tracks we can take to do that."

Before the contract and unionization, one in 12 of the city's full-time employees could not support themselves on their salary. The city also saw high turnover rates across agencies. In all, it cost the city more than $6.5 million per year.


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Supporters of a new state-sponsored retirement savings program in Maine are celebrating a significant milestone.

More than six months after the launch of the Maine Retirement Investment Trust, or MERIT, enrolled employees have saved more than $1 million.

Alf Anderson, associate director for advocacy and outreach at AARP Maine, said the program was created to help the roughly 200,000 private sector workers without access to a retirement plan at their job.

"You know, one of the most important things for people as they plan for retirement," said Anderson, "is having that financial security to be able to do the things they want to do when they do get to that point in their lives. And so, that milestone was really exciting for us to see."

Anderson said businesses with at least five employees can register with MERIT to help set up savings for workers, who would otherwise seek out an independent financial planner.

More than 1,500 employers have already signed on.

Surveys show more than half of Americans are concerned they won't be able to achieve financial security in retirement.

At least 25 states introduced legislation last year to establish new, state-backed retirement plans.

Anderson said the successful rollout in Maine reveals the urgency people feel about planning for the future due to the high costs of food and housing.

"Do I cut back on my medications?" said Anderson. "Do I not eat a certain number of meals today? Like, it's really frightening to see some of the decisions people have to make."

Anderson said the pandemic didn't help - with even more Mainers facing depleted savings accounts and having only Social Security to fall back on when they reach retirement age.

State officials say MERIT could help Mainers for generations to come, and help reduce reliance on public assistance programs.

Members of the Service Employees' International Union start this week in the Portland area with new contracts for their work.

SEIU Local 49 members work as security officers and janitorial staff for some of the biggest employers in the Pacific Northwest.

The Portland team bargained for about a month and gained wage increases, additional paid leave, and health and safety improvements.

Renato Quintero, an SEIU member and a janitor at Intel, said they had to work hard to make these changes, but he thinks the effort was worthwhile.

"Those things are really useful for our work and for our family," said Quintero, "being able to have more money, and also time to enjoy our family life."

The new contracts will affect nearly two thousand workers in the Portland metro area. The union expects the wage increases to add $9 million to the local economy.

In addition to pay, union leaders say the new contracts come with a sense of recognition. They note people in these professions worked through the pandemic, and their jobs were considered essential.

Michael Lindsey, a union member and security officer with GardaWorld Security Services, said he sees these contracts as a step into the future.

"This is a new era for unions, especially coming out of the pandemic," said Lindsey, "and I'm excited to see what the next few years hold for us."

Lindsey predicted the new contracts will allow employees to focus on their jobs more. He said he also expects a decrease in staff turnover, which will result in an increase in staff experience.