Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a significant investment of billions in grants and loans to provide reliable, affordable high-speed internet to thousands of rural residents, farmers, and business owners across rural America. In fact, USDA is expanding high-speed internet access through USDA Rural Development’s ReConnect Program and since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested in 142 ReConnect projects, bringing high-speed internet to 314,000 rural Americans.

This includes Public Utility District (PUD) 1 of Lewis County, which received $24.2 million to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network benefiting 2,863 people, 119 businesses, 487 farms, and four educational facilities in Lewis County (a $3 million Community Connect Grant was awarded to the PUD in 2021 to construct a 70-mile fiber-to-the-premises system, benefiting 870 residents and 12 businesses in the Lewis County service area). Applicants to USDA's ReConnect Program funding must serve rural areas lacking service at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. Applicants must also commit to building facilities capable of providing high-speed internet service with speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in the proposed service area.

"These are huge federal investments to help local providers improve lives," said Helen Price Johnson, State Director for USDA Rural Development in Washington State. “Too many people in rural America and on Tribal lands have been left out of the digital economy for far too long. Connectivity is the great equalizer. It opens the world’s marketplace to our rural businesses and Tribal communities. “This is great news and will expand opportunities for education, health care, and jobs across our state,” she added.

Total investments in Southwestern Washington of over $38.5 in high speed internet related funding includes:

 - A $429,860 Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant to Washington State University to equip three hub sites and 10 end-user sites across Washington State with group and individualized distance learning systems. Instructors at Washington State University in Whitman and Kittitas counties will deliver for-credit instruction, non-credit instruction, webinars, and certificate program courses to 10 locations, benefiting 2,088 students.

 - The University of Washington received a $1 million Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant to equip two hub sites and 12 end-user sites throughout Spokane, King, Asotin, Pacific, Cowlitz, Kitsap, Grays Harbor, and Clallam counties with state-of-the-art teledentistry carts for oral health care and teaching. Instructors at the University of Washington School of Dentistry in Seattle and the UW/Eastern Washington University School of Dentistry in Spokane will provide dental training at rural or underserved locations, benefiting 89,881 individuals.

 - In Cowlitz County, Kalama Telephone Company is using an $8.6 million Broadband ReConnect Grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network connecting 4,330 people, 61 businesses, and 21 farms to high-speed internet in rural Cowlitz County. Kalama Telephone Company will make high-speed internet affordable by participating in the FCC's Affordable Connectivity and Lifeline programs.

 - Additionally, in Cowlitz County, a $73,672 Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant will be used to purchase distance learning equipment for the Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Department in Kelso. This grant will provide equipment in fire stations at six sites for emergency medical technicians and paramedics, covering more than 28,444 residents. The equipment will enable first responders to remain locally, reducing response times during emergencies and improving medical training and certifications, particularly for opioid misuse response.

“High-speed internet is a key to prosperity for people who live and work in rural communities,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we can ensure that rural communities have the internet connectivity needed to expand the economy from the bottom up and middle out, making rural America a place of opportunity to live, work, and raise a family.”

This effort is driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing investments and creating good-paying jobs nationwide. Under the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $65 billion to connect everyone to high-speed internet through the Internet for All initiative.

To learn more about investment resources for rural areas in Washington State, visit www.rd.usda.gov/wa.