Broadband Readiness Planning Grant Pilot

Recently, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) and the director of broadband opportunities announced the five communities that will receive funding as part of the Broadband Readiness Planning Grant through the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).

The goal of the pilot program is to encourage communities to plan for long-term community development. This new plan will help communities gain an understanding of their current broadband conditions and needs, create a long-term broadband plan in their community and identify options for achieving that vision. The maximum grant amount is $50,000.

The grant recipients are:

• The town of Dale;
  
  
• The town of English – in partnership with Marengo and Milltown;
  
  
• Greene County – including Bloomfield, Jasonville, Switz City and Worthington;
  
  
• Marshall County – including Bremen, Culver and La Paz; and
  
  
• Starke County – including Hamlet, Knox, and North Judson.

The five communities, chosen by OCRA, were selected based on the established Community Development Block Grant criteria and the following factors:

• Location – selected communities represent different areas of the state;
  
  
• Geography – due to the challenges geography and topography present, areas with varying terrain were chosen;
  
  
• Density – a range of population densities were considered;
  
  
• Unserved/underserved – communities were reviewed based on their unserved status per IC 4-4-38-6; and
  
  
• Previous efforts – any current or previous efforts towards expansion or deployment of broadband were considered.

The Purdue Center for Regional Development will provide these pilot communities with technical assistance.

Planning grants are funded with Federal CDBG dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This blog has been updated to include the grant winners.