N.H. FastRoads appoints new executive director

New Hampshire FastRoads, an organization with the goal of expanding access to high-speed Internet in southwestern New Hampshire, has appointed a new executive director.In her new role, Carole Monroe – former chief information officer at Franklin Pierce University – will forward the organization’s mission of delivering high-speed broadband to the Monadnock and Upper Valley regions.Her first order of business will be to select a firm or firms to provide the fiber optic engineering and construction services for the broadband network, which includes last-mile projects in Rindge and Enfield and middle-mile projects in 19 towns and 220 community anchor institutions in the Upper Valley and Monadnock regions.Before taking the position, Monroe was co-chair of the FastRoads predecessor Monadnock Connect.A subsidiary of the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation, New Hampshire FastRoads is partnered with Network New Hampshire Now, which is a collaboration of public and private organizations funded by private and federal stimulus funds to expand broadband coverage throughout the state. Once complete, the work of FastRoads will enable delivery of such services as consumer and business Internet access and business-class videoconferencing. –KATHLEEN CALLAHAN/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW