Well it’s been a big day for Blandin, as Bernadine Joselyn announced today, Blandin was award ARRA broadband stimulus funds. It’s exciting and we’ll be sure to post update on the MIRC project on the blog. I wanted to give a quick mention to the other grant announced today that will help boost broadband in Minnesota…

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas – Mission Economic Development Agency: $3.7 million public computer center grant with an additional $2.5 million applicant-provided match to create 12 new public computer centers and expand five existing ones in Phoenix, Ariz.; Canoga Park, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, Calif.; Del Norte, Colo.; Blackfoot, Idaho; Wheaton, Md.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Anthony, NM; Philadelphia, Pa.; and San Antonio and Laredo, Texas. Each center expects to operate on the project’s centrally managed network and provide computer training and adult education to a low broadband adoption, high unemployment target population through a standardized English-Spanish training curriculum.

So we’ve got a nice addition for rural and urban Minnesota.