A local broadband company is hoping to take advantage of historic funding to help rural residents south of Courtland.
For the first time ever, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has been able to draw from multiple sources to increase its broadband grant funding, making it the largest amount of this kind of funding they’ve been able to award.
Now, New Ulm-based broadband provider Nuvera Communications is hoping the extra cash will help those in need.
Nuvera President and CEO Glenn Zerbe said one of the main targets for this funding, should it be awarded, would be about 90 to 100 homes south of Courtland.
“We’d be building fiber to their residence, so down their street and at their request from their street to their home at no charge,” he said.
They are hoping for $5 million and have county support…
Zerbe said in a normal year, the company receives between $1 million to $2 million in funding. He said the company is hoping to be awarded at least $5 million this year.
On Tuesday, Nicollet County commissioners voted to approve a letter of support for the grant application, which Zerbe said Nuvera will officially submit in the coming weeks. The letter helps show community interest in the process.
Zerbe said the “supersized” grant helps the company reach more people.
Blandin on Broadband 