Thanks to John Schultz for the heads up on the latest ARRA broadband Round Two announcements. There were 66 awards announced; 3 were based/focused on Minnesota and one is a national program. The quick math indicates that $16.4 million of ARRA funds are coming into the state for the 3 Minnesota-based projects.

The dollar amounts per project ranged from half a million dollars to $48 million in Georgia. There were a handful of $20-30 million projects – but otherwise the Minnesota projects are kind of in the bell-shaped curve. Just perusing the list – it seems as if Iowa did well with this batch.

You can see the full list of BIP awardees or I’ve pulled out the Minnesota projects below. Congrats to all the awardees!

• Zayo Bandwidth – This $13.4 million grant with an additional $5.7 million applicant-provided match will fund almost 300 miles of new fiber network. Zayo Bandwidth estimates that this project will create over 100 jobs upfront and help drive economic development in the community that creates jobs for years to come. Over 360,000 people stand to benefit from this grant, along with over 11,000 businesses and nearly 700 community institutions.
• Federated Telephone Cooperative – This $1.3 million grant/loan project consists of building a FTTP system to deploy voice, video, and data services to rural Appleton, Minnesota. The service area is primarily located in Swift County, with small portions in Big Stone and Chippewa Counties. Nearly 400 people stand to benefit from the Federated Telephone Cooperative grant, along with 7 businesses and 1 community institution. Not only will this project create jobs upfront, but it will help drive economic development in the community that will create jobs for years to come.
• Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee – This $1.7 million grant with an additional $790,000 applicant-provided match will create seven new public computer centers and upgrading ten existing facilities on three Indian reservations in Minnesota. The centers will be located at Boys and Girls Clubs within tribally operated community centers, providing public access to all residents. Not only will this project create jobs upfront, but it will help drive economic development in the community that will create jobs for years to come.

University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development – This $62.5 million grant with an additional $34.3 million applicant-provided match will interconnect more than 30 existing research and educational networks, creating a nation-wide high-capacity network that will enable advanced networking features for more than 100,000 essential community anchor institutions. University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development estimates that this project will directly create hundreds of jobs upfront and help drive economic development in the community that creates jobs for years to come. The United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) project proposes a large-scale, public-private partnership to interconnect more than 30 existing research and education networks. This Comprehensive Community Infrastructure project is designed to span all 50 states and every network