The Westchester County Association has a team in place to guide its effort to bring super high-speed gigabit broadband to Westchester’s four largest cities.
The business group announced in October that it would team up with the mayors of Yonkers, White Plains, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle to pursue a $750 million plan to bring gigabit internet to the cities, which the group said can spur new business and innovation across multiple industries.
On March 20, the Westchester County Association announced the core members of a steering committee that will guide the project and raise funding. The group hopes to issue a request for proposals in May to find a firm to assess the county”™s current infrastructure, its market and the best course of action for the county’s gigabit plan.
The 15-person committee is chaired by Jack Kopnisky, CEO and president of Sterling National Bank.
The other members are:
Ӣ Rizwan Khaliq, CMO, IBM Global Public Sector and Smarter Cities.
Ӣ Rebecca Ledingham, vice president for cyber threats and intelligence at MasterCard.
Ӣ Clive Henry, partner sales manager for media and entertainment at Adobe.
Ӣ Ken Theobalds, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at Entergy Corp.
Ӣ Joseph Simone, president and CEO of Simone Development Cos.
Ӣ Michael D. Israel, CEO and president of WMCHealth.
Ӣ Belinda S. Miles, president of Westchester Community College.
Ӣ New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson.
Ӣ White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach.
Ӣ Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas.
Ӣ Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano.
Ӣ William Harrington, chair of board of directors for Westchester County Association.
Ӣ William M. Mooney, president and CEO, Westchester County Association.
Ӣ Joan McDonald, strategic adviser for Westchester County Association.
The association also announced it would also hold a series of community roundtables to spread the word about gigabit, starting in New Rochelle in April and May.
In the fall, the Westchester County Association added Blair Levin, a former staffer under Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, to the gigabit Westchester initiative as a voluntary adviser.
