NORWICH – Brushing off failed attempts to procure grants through the Appalachian Regional Commission and Empire State Development, the Chenango County Planning Department is exploring new avenues for funds to expand internet services along the Route 12 corridor.

Department heads are working with Southern Tier 8, a regional planning board that works jointly with eight counties in the Southern Tier region, to strike a private-public partnership deal with Southern Tier Network to build an open-access fiber optic network from Binghamton to the Village of Sherburne. The hope, they say, is to offer more reliable high-speed internet to businesses and residences from the south to north ends of the county.

“Economic development-wise, businesses won’t want to locate in Chenango County if there’s not good internet,” said Chenango Planning Department Director Shane Butler.

According to Butler, there are companies aiming to capitalize on the battery storage and computer chip manufacturing industry that’s expanding in the Syracuse and Binghamton regions. A reliable fiber optic line along Route 12 would be an incentive for such companies to settle in Chenango County, he said.

“It would also mean cheaper rates for everyone,” he added. “That Route 12 corridor can be the main middle mile hub, then other internet service providers can branch off that hub for a mile in another direction if there’s a contract with Southern Tier Network.”