Community Connect Funding to Benefit 554 Rural Residents and Two Businesses
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced that USDA is investing $1.4 million to provide broadband service to the people of rural Franklin County Tennessee where service does not exist.
The Department is making the award through the Community Connect Program. This investment will build opportunity and prosperity for people in rural Tennessee communities.
“The people of rural America rely more than ever on connectivity for essential services. USDA is committed to bringing reliable broadband to rural people where they are – in their homes, communities and businesses across the country – to help them tap into the enormous potential of the internet for jobs, education, health care, public safety and community development,” USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson said. “President Biden’s American Jobs Plan prioritizes building ‘future-proof’ broadband infrastructure – like the investment we’re announcing today – in areas without sufficient access to broadband, so that we finally reach 100 percent high-speed broadband coverage.”
Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative will use a $1.4 million grant to build a 55-mile Fiber-to-the-Premises system to benefit 554 people and two businesses in the Sherwood/Sinking Cove area of Franklin County. Subscribers will have access to service of up to one gigabytes per second (GBps), expanding their access to economic, educational, health care and public safety opportunities. As part of the grant, residents will have internet access at a community center free of charge for at least two years.
Background:
USDA’s Community Connect Program provides grants to eligible applicants that will provide broadband service in rural, economically challenged communities where service does not exist. To learn more , visit www.rd.usda.gov/community-connect.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit GovDelivery subscriber page.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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