October 19, 2020
USDA Community Connect Grant & Webinar
The Community Connect grant program provides financial assistance to eligible applicants that will provide broadband service in rural, economically-challenged communities where service does not exist. A 15% local match is required and cooperatives are eligible applicants. The application deadline is December 23, 2020.
Program information can be found here:
https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/community-connect-grants
A webinar is scheduled for October 20th:
https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/community-connect-broadband-grant-open-webinar-oct-20
Owen-Withee School District & St. Croix County Selected for WEDC Pilot Project
Through the Broadband Connectors Pilot Project, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is providing technical assistance to six communities throughout the State to help identify and capitalize upon opportunities to increase broadband availability. The lessons learned from this 2.5-month initiative will be incorporated into Wisconsin’s Playbook for Broadband Progress. A very large number of applications were submitted with two of the six selected projects coming from our Broadband Alliance area!
St. Croix County will be using this assistance to work with internet service providers, identify funding opportunities, and engage partners to expand broadband services. The Owen-Withee School District partnered with Clark County EDC and WCWRPC to create project that will explore broadband needs and expansion opportunities within the School District as well as compile broadband-related data for Clark County.
A press release from Governor Evers is available here:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/2a5de03.
Other Announcements
- The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the visibility and importance of having broadband service available for every home for remote learning and medicine. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has been working with local school districts to collect data from ISPs and their students. With this information, WI DPI will be an additional source of needed broadband data for local planning efforts.
- The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has been updating mapping data at their website. One of their new maps shows Public Wi-Fi locations. Internet coverage maps can also be downloaded by county. You can also check out the 2020 (and past) PSC Broadband Expansion Grant awards; west central Wisconsin again did very well in 2020! Keep in mind that the service areas and speeds shown on the Wisconsin Broadband Map are reported by the ISPs; service areas are sometimes reported at a Census block level (not granular) and actual available speeds may be less than the speeds advertised. https://psc.wi.gov/Pages/Programs/BroadbandMaps.aspx
- Governor Evers has formed a Task Force on Broadband Access that is tasked with preparing an annual report that will include the current state of broadband in Wisconsin, as well as recommendations for policies and initiatives to overcome challenges to statewide access, affordability and adoption. https://psc.wi.gov/Pages/Programs/BroadbandGovernorsTaskForce.aspx
- You may have seen the commercials for FirstNet, the nationwide public safety initiative being provided by AT&T. While infrastructure for emergency services and safety is the priority, AT&T can then sell internet services to residents if it’s not being used for public safety.
- We are planning to conduct a Broadband Alliance conference call in November. A Doodle poll to schedule the call will be sent soon. In the interim, Stay Safe everyone!
Invite Others to Join Our Conversation
For more information about the West Central Wisconsin Broadband Alliance,
contact Chris Straight, WCWRPC at ch...@wcwrpc.org
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