Today, Governor Reynolds and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) are proud to announce the recipients of the State of Iowa Broadband Grants Program.
Thirty-nine applicants have been awarded a total of $97,500,000 for broadband infrastructure as part of the latest Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program. OCIO received 178 applications from broadband providers for the Grant Program with requests nearing $300 million. Award announcements can be found online here.
“Expanding broadband across our state continues to be a top priority,” said Gov. Reynolds. “It is clear by the shear volume and scope of applications that the need is there. Today’s award announcement will go a long way toward meeting that need, and we won’t stop here.”
Due to the overwhelming amount of interest and success of this program, the State of Iowa will expedite a new grant opportunity utilizing ARPA federal funds to build upon the $100 million in state funding for this grant program. Details on this new grant opportunity will be released in the near future.