Proposals by the towns of Rencontre East and Belleoram were given approval to secure funding from the Community Access Program during the first round of competitions in 1999.

Shawn Fowlow, Principal at St. Stephen's School in Rencontre East, explained that this was the day he's been looking forward to for a long time. St. Stephen's School will be the home of the Community Access Centre in the remote town of Rencontre East. "Now," says Fowlow,"we can be a part of the global community with no geographical boundaries. Craftspersons and businesses will now have access to computer technology and the Internet global marketplace right in their community."

Sim Savory, Chairperson of the Belleoram Community Access Committee, expressed delight on receiving the news of their success. "Our people will have access to information resources that were unheard of even a few short years ago," explained Savory. "And information is power, so you might say we're empowering our people to seize the opportunities that this new resource brings us."

Over the next while the towns will be working with the staff of the Coast of Bays Corporation and the Public Libraries Board to purchase and set up the equipment to get their communities "online in the New Economy".

In the Coast of Bays Region, we currently have CAP sites at Gaultois, Hermitage, Harbour Breton, St. Alban's and Milltown.

For more information about the Community Access Program, visit their website at http://cnet.unb.ca/cap/.

For more information about the Community Access Sites in the Coast of Bays Region, contact:
Conrad Collier, IT Facilitator
P.O. Box 310
St. Alban's, Newfoundland
A0H 2E0
Tel: 709-538-3980
Fax:709-538-3627
Toll Free: 1-800-205-0799
E-mail: zone13it@cancom.net