We've heard it said time and time again that Beaufort County is a unique and appealing location, especially for the emerging “Creative Class.”
As a member of the Creative Class, I completely agree.
I am a knowledge worker. I am employed full-time as an Senior Editor with ProQuest, a research and publishing company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My job requires reviewing, editing, and processing large amounts of information.
Though I love Beaufort and am thankful to live here, my need to access and process large volumes of data presents a serious problem. There is not an Internet service provider (ISP) in Beaufort that can supply the bandwidth I need to work at full capacity.
Members of the Creative Class are an asset to any community, and towns and counties across the country are hard at work attracting these workers, and why not?
The Creative Class, by definition, creates. We create new businesses, new jobs, new industries, and new opportunity. We place limited demands on the physical infrastructure. We don’t require new roads, bridges or massive office parks.
Many of us work from home or share space with other creatives. We work from coffee shops and cafes. We live and work locally, so we spend large percentages of our money with local businesses. We’re easy to attract, since we are generally location independent and can decide to move almost on a whim.
Though moving is easy for us and we require little traditional infrastructure, we do need one thing: connectivity. Connectivity means different things to different creatives, but generally we need access to the Internet and the ability to connect, either in person or otherwise, with other creatives. This connectivity is lacking in Beaufort County.
In my role as Senior Editor some projects require downloading 30 or more gigabytes of data. Since local ISPs will not provide the necessary bandwidth at a reasonable price, I often leave my computer on overnight, uploading or downloading massive documents.
Some downloads require leaving the connection open for days at a time. Download speeds are not the only challenge.
Nearly every time it rains, my Internet dies for minutes to hours. It generally comes back online after rebooting my router, modem, and computer, but not always. This problem is not unique to my chosen ISP, other ISPs are plagued with similar downtime, service interruptions, and inadequate bandwidth.
This is not just the problem of Hargray customers, or just Charter customers, or just those using CenturyLink. This isn’t a problem just for the Creative Class, but it is a threat to Beaufort and Beaufort’s ability to attract the Creative Class.
Before Beaufort will become a hub for creative talent, before Beaufort can reap the benefits of a highly skilled, creative, locally based workforce, there must be investment in the infrastructure that attracts this workforce.
The infrastructure to support the Creative Class in Beaufort is wholly inadequate, and it goes without saying that Beaufort is not alone in its attempt to attract the Creative Class.
Other towns and counties, both locally and nationally, are hungry to attract creatives, their talents, and their disposable income. Other communities are investing in the technical infrastructure to attract the Creative Class.
If Beaufort County fails to address this problem, all other efforts to attract professionals like myself will be for naught.
And make no mistake about it, the responsibility for improving the infrastructure and pressuring the private ISPs to improve their services rests wholly on Beaufort City and County governments. The Creative Class won’t demand this infrastructure; they just won’t show up.
Eric H. Doss is a triathlete and editor based in Beaufort South Carolina. His latest venture is Beaufort SEO, a search engine optimization consultancy focused on local internet marketing for Beaufort businesses. He of course is a member of Fuse843, and you can find his profile here.
