Once a major center for the production of sea-island cotton, tobacco, and peanuts, Bulloch County has leaned into building out the foundations on which to grow a more innovative and dynamic economy. It is home to Georgia Southern University, Ogeechee Technical College, East Georgia State College-Statesboro, and a strong local K-12 system. Major manufacturers like Hyundai and Great Dane have plants in Bulloch County. Statesboro, Bulloch’s county seat, is home to a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem through the work of Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group (BIG), and internship programs run by Southern Automated Logistics and Technology (SALT) and Bulloch Solutions, a local cooperative internet service provider, are all contributing to workforce development and supporting local businesses.
Bulloch County, like many other rural counties, has markers of deep disadvantage. Compared with other counties, those classified as deeply disadvantaged have lower life expectancies, more infants with low birth weights, and higher rates of residents living in poverty and deep poverty. Bulloch is also classified as a persistent poverty county with poverty rates above 20% for over 30 years. This multi-generational poverty affects the entire community. Rural Black residents are more likely to live in a persistent poverty county (Center on Rural Innovation, 2023). Bulloch County’s share of Black residents, about 30% of the county’s population, is approximately double the national average of 14%. “The longer poverty exists in an area, the more likely the community lacks adequate infrastructure and support services.” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Households living in persistent poverty counties are the least likely to have access to internet (USDA, 2022). Rural Black Americans are also more likely to lack access to broadband internet (Center on Rural Innovation, 2023). Figure 1 shows the disparity in access to broadband for racial and ethnic populations in rural communities. While access has improved for rural areas, including those with a disproportionate share of minority populations, there is still a gap in access. Indeed, Appendix C of this report shows that even after controlling for a host of socioeconomic factors (poverty rate, income, education, etc.), race and ethnicity remain strong predictors of broadband availability.
Though digital divides still exist across racial and ethnic minorities in rural America, recent broadband infrastructure investments have helped close these gaps (Figure 1). In Bulloch County, 100% of locations are served by high-speed fiber broadband service, far surpassing other persistent poverty counties and the nation (Figure 2). Even the most rural areas of Bulloch County have access to fiber broadband connectivity. Bulloch Solutions has been a driving force in the construction of fiber networks throughout the county.
Formed as the Bulloch Telephone Cooperative in 1951, with the mission of connecting Bulloch County, the cooperative has a long history of making investments in connectivity. As a telephone cooperative, they are an Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) whose territory includes the most rural parts of Bulloch County. To facilitate working in other areas, they created a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) named Bulloch Cellular, which eventually became Bulloch Solutions. The cooperative started its fiber build-out in the early 2000s, and completed the fiber build of its ILEC territory – primarily Bulloch County’s rural areas – in 2011, forming a ring of fiber around its CLEC territory including the city of Statesboro. The cooperative then made the decision to expand into Statesboro proper. Over the last decade, the cooperative has invested over $25 million dollars to expand its fiber network, including over $7 million to build a fiber optic ring to support over 350 business customers in Statesboro’s downtown business corridor.
Bulloch Solutions, Georgia’s first Gig-Certified operator, now has nearly 3,000 miles of underground fiber in Bulloch County and the city of Statesboro. Using a conservative industry-standard cost of $50,000-$60,000 per mile for fiber construction, their network represents an investment of $150 -$180 million. Bulloch Solutions’ rationale for building so much fiber, especially in rural areas, was simply summed up by Stuart Gregory, Director of Business Development: “It’s the best way to build internet, and we want everyone to have access, period.” Bulloch Solutions takes its commitment to universal access seriously. They provide free public WiFi on Statesboro’s Blue Mile, the historic South Main St. corridor, using Calix GigaPro wireless systems and Calix SmartTown. Again, their rationale for doing so is “everybody should have access.”
As a cooperative, Bulloch Solutions reinvests its success back into its members and the community, a primary motivator for decisions like providing free public WiFi. SmartTown allows Bulloch Solutions customers to securely access the same content and controls they enjoy at home while out in the community. By allowing everyone (including non-subscribers) to access the WiFi network, Bulloch Solutions enables residents and visitors to take advantage of high-quality broadband internet service regardless of their connectivity at home. This service can be especially important for low-income residents who may be less likely to have broadband access. For example, the Georgia Department of Human Services offers virtual cash assistance cards to qualifying residents. These cards are sent via email, and users must log in to a gateway to redeem the card, check their balance, and see transaction history. The free WiFi broadband service offered by Bulloch Solutions can help the most vulnerable Georgians access critical support services that can help residents establish their footing in today’s economy.
With its far-reaching fiber network, quality service, and reliability, Bulloch Solutions stands out as a premier asset for the Statesboro and Bulloch County business community for large and small businesses. One of the prime advantages of Bulloch Solutions’ network to businesses is its reliability and redundancy. With 16 Central Offices, multiple backhaul paths, network-to-network interfaces with neighboring telecommunications companies, and internal layers of redundancy, Bulloch Solutions can maximize uptime – a critical consideration for businesses – and in the event of physical network disruptions like fiber cuts, service can be restored “within milliseconds.” Fiber is the gold standard for broadband due to its high, symmetrical down- and upload speed, reliability, and high data transmission capacity. Bulloch Solutions’ fiber broadband is used by several major industrial operations including a Hyundai plant, Great Dane plant, and a Walmart distribution center. Each of these enterprises requires national and international connectivity to other company units, suppliers, and distributors. Companies also need robust broadband for internal functioning.
Large and small businesses alike also depend on reliable connectivity for activities like marketing and sales, and to facilitate internal operations, like the use of cloud-based accounting software. Bulloch Solutions goes beyond providing fast, reliable fiber broadband service by offering value-added services like Calix SmartBiz to small business subscribers to help monitor and manage their business networks and daily operations. They also offer an extensive suite of services including custom website design, local and cloud data hosting, email hosting, network design, installation, and maintenance, offsite help desk support, and whole-of-business security including access control and fire alarms. These value-added broadband services help businesses leverage fiber broadband making it easier to do business in Bulloch County. Bulloch County saw the addition of 150 new business establishments between 2010-2021, with 42 new establishments between 2020-2021 alone.
As Figure 3 shows, business growth in the county far exceeds that of similar counties and of the nation as a whole.
In addition to Bulloch Solutions, Georgia Southern University and its Business Innovation Group have worked to support local startups and improve fiber connectivity. The university acquired a downtown Statesboro building that was in foreclosure to consolidate the formerly dispersed Small Business Development Center, Entrepreneurship Program, and research unit into a single location within the Businesses Innovation Group. The university also extended its fiber network – PeachNet – into downtown, linking the Business Innovation Group as well as the police and fire departments. Access to fiber broadband is a necessity for businesses. As Dr. Dominique Halaby, Director of the Business Innovation Group stated “having reliable internet connectivity is paramount to their business success.” Businesses need reliable and powerful internet not only for customer-facing websites, but also for the back-end aspects of running an enterprise such as inventory management, cloud-based accounting services, and logistics. With these actions, the Business Innovation Group “instantly saw growth in the number of jobs and business starts because they were being referred across the hall and not across town.”
The Business Innovation Group’s incubators also help local businesses leverage local assets. For example, Statesboro and the surrounding areas have an abundance of pine trees, and the Business Innovation Group’s FABLAB has a full suite of woodworking equipment. These resources supported the launch of Whiskey Grail, a startup that makes artisanal wooden drinking vessels. Whiskey Grail has been so successful that they opened a 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in town and are hiring employees. Dr. Halaby noted that Whiskey Grail’s owner, CEO, and core team still have offices in the Innovation Incubator because they “love the interaction and the atmosphere, and being part of the ecosystem we are building.”
Whiskey Grail co-founder and Statesboro serial entrepreneur Adam Tsang highlighted the importance of reliable, super-fast internet for his businesses. He noted that we live in a world where many people have never known anything but high-speed internet, and slow connections, even when temporary, have an outsized impact: “like the moment your internet is slow, it’s almost like it’s the end of the world.” Tsang further indicated that the need for reliability and speed exists on both the demand and supply sides of the business equation. Customers have little patience for slow-loading websites and are quick to move on. One issue Tsang surfaced underscores the importance of a fiber connection for businesses: fast, symmetrical down and upload speeds. One of his businesses is producing video content, which necessitates the transfer of very large files to his editor, and then the subsequent return of edited files. Tsang noted that slow upload speeds would make it impossible for him to operate. Access to fiber internet is essential for his business, and many others.
The Business Innovation Group currently operates three business incubator locations: the Innovation Incubator (I2) in Statesboro, which includes the Digital Fabrication Laboratory, or FABLAB; the Metter Business Incubator in Metter, Georgia which is focused on agribusiness; and the Hinesville Business Incubator in Hinesville, Georgia which is focused on entrepreneurial support for military personnel and veterans from nearby Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. In addition to these incubators, the Business Innovation Group is also in the process of rolling out a distributed network for business support in 27 Georgia locations. The rationale behind this initiative is that it will drive the development of small entrepreneurial ecosystems in host communities that will have the ability to connect with each other and the larger statewide ecosystem. This network will not only facilitate connections between rural areas but will also foster links with larger urban markets such as those in Atlanta and Savannah. Business support services from the Bulloch Innovation Group along with value-added broadband services from Bulloch Solutions help entrepreneurs leverage fiber infrastructure to access resources, networks, and larger markets, making it easier to start and operate a business in Bulloch County. Figure 4 shows that Bulloch County has been exceptional at leveraging broadband adoption to increase business startups.
Another example of the Bulloch Innovation Group leveraging broadband in conjunction with local strengths is the incubator location slated to come online in Savannah that will be focused on supporting the development of logistics-related technology. As a port city, Savannah is home to many distribution centers and warehouses, but the Bulloch Innovation Group is thinking beyond these facilities: “We don’t just need more warehouses and distribution centers to create jobs. We want to create the new products that help track the movement of goods.” Developing these products will depend on fast, reliable, broadband provided, and the direct connection back to the Bulloch Innovation Group’s main center will enable support for these endeavors and the opportunity for entrepreneurs in Savannah to take advantage of the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem that the Bulloch Innovation Group has created.
The Savannah initiative is not the Bulloch Innovation Group’s first foray into tech-focused work. In 2020, the Bulloch Innovation Group collaborated with tech entrepreneur Stacey Roach to establish Southern Automated Logistics and Technology (SALT). SALT’s primary mission is tech workforce development, especially software engineering. SALT offers paid internships to college students, and provides them with “robust mentoring and access to professional support.” SALT interns work as team members on actual projects, gaining valuable real-world experience. Needless to say, SALT depends on quality broadband access to carry out its mission. Tech jobs like the ones SALT interns train for tend to be high-paying, and growth in the digital job market is expected to grow. Tech workers also have greater access to remote work, which can offer many benefits for both employee productivity and quality of life. Fiber broadband has doubtless played a role in this increase, as the kinds of activities involved in working remotely such as video conferencing and file transfers are well-supported by fiber’s fast and symmetrical speeds.
In addition to providing tech sector exposure and training for college students, businesses and organizations in Bulloch County are working on programs to expose young people to the tech sector and its expanding economic opportunities. Early exposure is critical: what children see and experience early in life structures what they view as possibilities in later years. The “durable dispositions” developed in childhood and adolescence are powerful, and profoundly shape later life choices and chances. The Willow Hill Techie Camp in Portal (12 miles northwest of Statesboro) provides six weeks of computer science instruction to third through eighth grade Bulloch County students. The camp was started by Dr. Gayle Jackson in 2022 in collaboration with the Nordson Corporation and TECH CORPS, a K-12 nonprofit computer science education group. The Willow Hill School, founded in 1874 by former slaves to educate Black children, evolved from a small, resource-limited schoolhouse into a museum and place to honor its legacy. In just two years, the program has grown from 25 to 250 students, who can learn about coding, app development, digital animation, and robotics. This exposure to tech will enable campers to see tech careers as a possibility for their futures, and may also help to increase broadband adoption: research has suggested that households with children are 8.5 percentage points more likely to adopt broadband than similar households without children.
Bulloch Solutions partners with the Bulloch County school system’s work-based learning program to offer paid internships to Bulloch County high school students. The partnership provides opportunities for students in different technical discipline pathways to work in various aspects of their business like engineering, logistics, and marketing. Students get paid, earn school credits, and “get real-life job experience and exposure.”
Maximizing the benefits of 21st-century infrastructure like fiber broadband for the community requires diverse touchpoints, integrating with the community fabric, addressing residents’ needs, and demonstrating how they can leverage it effectively. Broadband adoption rates in Bulloch County are now over 84%. Bulloch Solutions is deeply embedded in the community outside of its provision of public services. Members of its management team serve on the executive committee of the Statesboro Bulloch Chamber of Commerce, the Statesboro Police Officer’s Foundation board, the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Bulloch County, and are involved in local chapters of Altrusa International and Kiwanis. Bulloch Solutions is also heavily involved in literacy efforts, including hosting literacy events and placing a free book nook in their office lobby. Bulloch Solutions even has an ice cream truck that they fashioned out of a retired fiber splicing van, which they bring to community events and hand out free ice cream. Carrie Binns, Bulloch Solutions’ Sales and Marketing Coordinator stated that the motivation for their community outreach is that it is “one of the major goals as a company to give back what we’ve been given.”
Bulloch Solutions also connected Georgia Southern University’s 25,000-seat football stadium with free public WiFi, mitigating potential public safety issues as cellular phone service in this location is spotty, as is the case for many locations in Southeast Georgia. Bulloch Solutions helps Georgians stay connected where cellular companies can’t. As Stuart Gregory said, “if your phone doesn’t work and something happens, what are you gonna do? Having a reliable, roaming WiFi connection is huge.” As these examples show, Bulloch Solutions’ commitment to universal fiber broadband access helps to improve quality of life in Bulloch County by addressing gaps in community telecommunications needs.
Bulloch County is an excellent example of how robust fiber broadband access can create a positive impact on a small town. In particular, the value-added services provided by Bulloch Solutions and the Bulloch Innovation Group support community connection and foster innovation.