MaryBeth Matzek: Vacation destinations make pitch for telecommuters

This is an excerpt from a column posted at BizOpinion.

Who hasn’t gone away on vacation and wished they could stay there forever? Perhaps maybe the boss would let you telecommute or you have a job that lets you live anywhere, but then reality sets in and you realize there are too many barriers to make it work.

Two popular tourist destinations in Wisconsin are looking to smash those barriers. Door County and Bayfield County are both looking to convince visitors they can spend more time – living and still getting their work done – in their favorite vacation spots. To make it all work, however, broadband Internet connections are a must.

“We have worked diligently for more than 10 years improving communication technology in Door County. We know it’s a necessity for not only businesses that already operate here and our residents, but also to attract businesses,” says Sam Perlman, economic development manager for the Door County Economic Development Corp. “Broadband technology is an absolute economic development issue and we would love to have our seasonal residents spend more time here or maybe locate here permanently and technology is part of that.”

While it may only be less than four hours north of Chicago, Door County’s geology and geography – it’s very rural in some spots and much of the peninsula has a thin layer of soil so to put in lines companies to drill into bedrock — made it tricky to get broadband technology in place. But there’s been immense progress in recent years with different telecom firms working in different parts of the county to improve DSL and cellular wireless access throughout the region.

“Off the top of my head, I can think of three headhunters who live and work from their homes in Northern Door. These are jobs where people can live anywhere. There are a lot of other jobs out there like that too and many more are likely to be created as technology continues to improve,” Perlman says. “Now there are social media managers – that’s a job that didn’t exist five years ago – and it’s a job you can do from anywhere. We want people to realize they can work and play all in one location.”

Read the full column for more