The Story of iFiber in My Town

Before blogs were a thing, radio broadcaster Paul Harvey told “the rest of the story” to millions of listeners each week. They were little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects and ended with the tagline, “And now you know…the rest of the story.”

Well, here’s a little-known Mt. Morris story about a hard-fought battle to get a critically important addition to Mt. Morris. It’s a David versus Goliath, a little-guy-against-the-establishment tale with a hero who came to the rescue.

In 2011, a group at Northern Illinois University was tasked with administering federal grant money to bury a high-speed fiber optic cable (iFiber) throughout northern Illinois. The federal government recognized that buried cable was (and is) more reliable than air transmission which can be interrupted and buffer. The iFiber cable would ensure that public facilities in northern Illinois had more reliable internet for transmitting health records, maintaining public and government records, police and fire data, etc.

Paula Diehl, then Village Clerk of Mt. Morris and executive director of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), happened to see NIU’s proposed map of the all-important iFiber network. In this proposed map, the cable branched west after Oregon, going north and south of Mt. Morris – but, not through it.

The EDC jumped into action. They called, met in person, presented compelling arguments, proposed solutions, and even lost their tempers with the NIU group, trying to persuade them to include Mt. Morris. NIU wouldn’t budge.

A Hero Appears

Aaron Palmer, CEO of Leaf River Communications (LR Communications), learned of the Village’s problem and contacted Rob Urish of the EDC. Working together, Palmer agreed to extend his buried high-speed, fiber optic line from Leaf River up to Mt. Morris and down McKendrie Avenue to Brayton Road. From there it went west to the school and Village Hall. Eventually, Palmer worked out an arrangement with NIU to provide iFiber service to Mt. Morris public facilities.
Residents may not appreciate the magnitude of this achievement because they don’t see the results. But the EDC understood how critically important iFiber was to the Village’s infrastructure and future and fought to include us.

The Future of iFiber

Since 2020, the EDC has been working to get high-speed fiber optic cable to every resident in Mt. Morris. It’s a challenge that will take time to achieve. Knowing the EDC’s tenacity and passion for Mt. Morris, though, I’m sure it will happen. Check the EDC pages of mtmorrisil.net for project updates.

And now you know the rest of the story.