7.c State launches application process to fund broadband expansion _ News, Sports, Jobs - The Journal6/13/22, 9:19 AM State launches application process to fund broadband expansion | News, Sports, Jobs - The Journal
https://www.nujournal.com/news/local-news/2022/06/03/state-launches-application-process-to-fund-broadband-expansion/1/2
State launches application
process to fund broadband
expansion
Awards of $95 million in broadband grants across the state will be made
from a request for proposal proccess was opened June 2 by the Minnesota
Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Building on appropriations from both the 2021 and 2022 legislative
sessions, this grant round contains the highest-ever amount of funding for
the Border-to-Border Broadband Infrastructure grant program.
Funding from two sources — state and federal — can be used to reimburse
for up to half the cost of the broadband infrastructure deployed.
Applications must be submitted by Aug. 4. Funding for a single project is
capped at $5 million.
“This historic level of broadband funding will increase opportunities for
Minnesotans across the state, said Gov. Tim Walz, “Now, more than ever,
broadband is what connects Minnesotans to their education, jobs and the
rest of the world.”
On the state funding side, in May Walz signed legislation appropriating
$50 million — $25M in FY23 and $25M in FY24 — from the state’s general
fund for broadband. This bolsters the state’s practice since 2014 of
providing state funds to build out broadband service in areas of the state
where it is challenging to do so.
6/13/22, 9:19 AM State launches application process to fund broadband expansion | News, Sports, Jobs - The Journal
https://www.nujournal.com/news/local-news/2022/06/03/state-launches-application-process-to-fund-broadband-expansion/2/2
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For federal broadband funding, the remaining $70 million available for
grant awards in this round is federal funding from the American Rescue
Plan Act Capital Projects Fund, administered by the U.S. Department of
Treasury.
“High-speed, high-quality broadband is central to modern life – from
schools to business to healthcare and beyond,” said DEED Commissioner
Steve Grove.
He said the funding will go a long way toward connecting more than
240,000 homes and businesses that remain without access to the
infrastructure of today’s economy.
Requirements and application materials for this competitive grant
program are available on DEED’s website (mn.gov/deed).
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