"WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. — Internet search giant Google is based in Silicon Valley, yet it runs its community affairs operation out of a former bread factory in an old New England railroad town, hard by the confluence of the White and Connecticut rivers.
Matt Dunne, 40, the man in charge of Google's worldwide efforts to burnish its image in the places where it has offices, keeps up with corporate headquarters through a broadband link from two video screens in the bakery's former walk-in cooler.
Dunne's use of that technology - and the broadband Internet connection supporting it - is an example of what he touts as the key to Vermont's economic future as he campaigns for the 2010 Democratic nomination for governor.
'We need to, and I believe have an opportunity to, go from one of the lowest broadband penetration states in the country to the first state that brings fiber-optic high-speed Internet to every home in the state,' Dunne said in an interview. 'And that's an incredible opportunity for us to move from a state that's not thought of as being a technological centre to being a technological centre.'"