The city of Duluth, Minnesota, overlooks Lake Superior and is known for its rugged beauty and bounty of outdoor activities. The city has been struggling for the last several years and currently has a huge budget deficit. All the city departments have been touched by budget cuts including police, MIS and the library. With its focus on staying afloat, the city has not launched any major initiatives, including municipal broadband. The city’s 2008 proposed budget stated, “Ability to adopt new methodologies or to implement new technology is limited.” Under Major Budget issues it states, “The reduction of staffing levels due to vacancies and the elimination of positions is having a direct negative impact on our ability to provide customer service both internally and to the general public. In MIS, examples are difficulties in implementation of new programs and systems, and support and maintenance of existing systems.”

In January, after ending a month-long production break, Duluth’s largest manufacturer, Cirrus Design Corp. announced a new round of layoffs in January. Cirrus eliminated 146 in Duluth in Sept and Oct. And about 500 production workers were temporarily furloughed at the end of November, when Cirrus shut down its lines in Duluth and Grand Forks, N.D., adjusting to falling sales of airplanes. Cirrus is operating at half its capacity.