The United States Department of Agriculture announced June 12 an approximately $19 million ReConnect round four grant to Meeker Cooperative Light and Power Association for a fiber-to-the-premises project covering portions of Meeker, Kandiyohi and Stearns counties.
It was announced on June 28 that a nearly $2 million Border-to-Border Broadband Development grant was awarded to Meeker Co-op by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Office of Broadband Development for fiber-to-the-premises projects in Harrison, Lake Elizabeth and East Lake Lillian townships of Kandiyohi County.
“After successfully receiving a Border-to-Border grant in partnership with Federated Telephone Cooperative serving portions of Arctander, Dovre, Mamre and St. Johns townships in December 2022, we are thrilled to see continued momentum securing federal and state dollars for broadband infrastructure development in Kandiyohi County,” said Sarah Swedburg, business development manager for the EDC.
Covering 76.4 square miles with 155 households, the ReConnect grant will benefit 458 people, 16 businesses, 124 farms and one educational facility in Kandiyohi, Meeker and Stearns counties, according to the USDA ReConnect webpage. Meeker Co-op will make high-speed internet affordable by participating in the Federal Communications Commission Affordable Connectivity Program.
In Kandiyohi County, the ReConnect grant provides funding to connect residents in the most rural townships of Burbank, Roseville and Irving. The EDC Broadband Committee will continue to explore additional projects in those townships in partnership with Meeker Co-op.
The most recent Border-to-Border grants will cover all unserved and underserved premises in Harrison, Lake Elizabeth and East Lake Lillian townships. Lake Elizabeth and East Lake Lillian townships are being funded by the Low-Density Pilot Program of the Office of Broadband Development to build out broadband infrastructure in the most rural areas of the county.