Kandiyohi and Chippewa counties were successful in obtaining state Border to Border Broadband grant program funds to help pay for broadband projects. Nearly 1,700 more properties in Kandiyohi, Chippewa and Renville counties may soon have access to highspeed broadband after three projects were awarded state grant funds.
Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday that the state awarded more than $50 million to broadband projects across the state, funded through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Border to Border Broadband Program and the Low Population Density Program.
More on the projects…
Kandiyohi County was awarded the largest amount in the latest round of grant awards, receiving $8,202,000 for a $16.4 million project the county is doing with Federated Telephone Cooperative. The project, called the Kandiyohi County Western Fiber to the Premises Project, will see high-speed wireline broadband reach around 1,289 locations in Colfax, Dovre, Lake Andrew, Norway Lake and St. Johns townships.
Funding partners for the project include the five townships and Kandiyohi County, along with Federated. The County Board previously approved using $2,423,575 of its American Rescue Plan Act coronavirus relief funds to help pay for the project. The board had made broadband expansion a priority, pledging to spend 75% of its $8 million American Rescue Plan allocation on broadband projects.
Kandiyohi County was also awarded $590,709 in grant funds for a project with Vibrant Broadband, part of the Meeker Cooperative Light and Power Association. The money will be used to bring high-speed broadband to 124 premises in Fahlun Township, according to project information provided by DEED.
Kandiyohi County and the township have provided American Rescue Plan Act funding to match the grant amount, while Vibrant will provide the remaining costs. The total estimated cost of the project is $1,181,419.
Another regional project that received Border to Border funding is a Hanson Communications project in Chippewa County. All totaled, $2,081,494 in grant funds will help Hanson build and operate a fiber-to-the-premises networking covering unserved and underserved areas within southwest Chippewa County, according to information from DEED.
Approximately 283 fiber passings will be constructed in the project. The project has a total estimated cost of $4,625,644, with Chippewa County also providing funding.