Hillsboro Fire Department celebrates a new computer center that will be open to the public to access broadband internet and to learn new computer skills. A grand opening is scheduled for Thursday, October 20, at 6 p.m. at the Hillsboro Library.

Computer centers are also open at the Bartow-Frank-Durbin and Cass fire departments.

The computer center at Hillsboro is equipped with 10 computers connected to broadband internet, and Frank Gifford has been selected as the local computer mentor to offer training and support.

Training programs will include: Career Readiness, E-Commerce, Disaster Resilience, Health, and Online Mapping.
The computer center will be open to the public for a minimum of 10 hours per week. This computer center will serve people who have had little or no experience with computers as well as more advanced computer users who seek to increase their skills.
Many people ask, "why set up a computer center in the local fire department?"

In many communities across West Virginia, fire departments function as community centers. With these new computer centers, fire departments can offer a new service to the public and to their volunteers who need internet access to take classes and submit state reports. Fire department volunteers will also work to make the computers available in the evenings and weekends, and will listen closely to their communities to meet local needs.

The Future Generations Graduate School, an accredited institution based in Franklin, coordinates this project. With a $4.4 million grant from the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, Future Generations will, over a three-year period, equip 60 West Virginia fire departments with computers and training to help communities benefit from broadband. In the first two years 50 fire departments are confirmed partners. In addition, the project will establish two centers to refurbish and sell low-cost desktops and laptops.
Project details are available at: www.futurewv.org.

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