In early 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (NOAA) in Alpena received a grant to connect its new facility, the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, to Internet2 and provide educational programs across the network. Alpena Community College (ACC) was very interested in providing the marine sanctuary’s new programs to its students, but acquiring the needed bandwidth in Alpena for the project at a reasonable cost proved difficult. Frustrated with the situation, Vicky Kropp and Mark Grunder, co-directors of information systems for Alpena Community College, decided to arrange a meeting with other organizations in Alpena to find a solution to provide services and bring more bandwidth to the area. The meeting was very productive. Several public entities identified their fiber optic network resources, many of which took the same path in the city. The meeting created a new dialogue among the organizations and began the process of forming the consortium. “I think the promise of a networked community, collaboration and a shared resource was compelling,” Vicky Kropp said.

On September 6, 2006, the organizations met again and officially formed the Alpena Regional Fiber Consortium (ARFC). Representatives from Alpena Community College, Alpena County, Alpena Public Schools, Alpena Regional Medical Center, the City of Alpena, Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health, Northeast Michigan Consortium, and Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary/NOAA were named to the consortium’s board of directors.

In 2011 the ARFC voted to change its name to Northeast Michigan Fiber Consortium (NEMiFC) to show its support and commitment to the entire northeast Lower peninsula region.