Idaho receives 3 broadband grants-N. Idaho tribe gets $2.8 million, the most in U.S.

A remote American Indian community in northern Idaho has received the largest grant in the nation to install high-speed telecommunications lines and improve basic community services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

The Coeur d´Alene Tribe in Plummer — just south of Lake Coeur d´Alene — received $2.8 million in funds from a total of $20 million awarded nationally by the Agriculture Department to bring broadband connections to rural communities. The grants are the first of their kind to be distributed by the Agriculture Department, and nearly half of the funds were awarded to tribes.

The Coeur d´Alene Tribe received the funds to provide high-speed transmission services to community facilities and residents of Plummer and other sites on the Coeur d´Alene Reservation.

Two other rural areas in Idaho also were grant recipients. Paris, in the southeastern corner of the state, received $137,340, and Bovill in Latah County in North Idaho received $184,835.

“This is great for Idaho,” said Mike Field, Rural Development State Director. “We are elated with the success of our applicants in applying, competing and receiving the grant funds. Anything we can do to help rural communities in Idaho become more economically viable is a step in the right direction.”

Having a broadband connection is also a key in attracting and retaining businesses, said Georgia Smith, spokeswoman for the state Department of Commerce.

“In surveys we´ve done, companies tell us the top three things they look for when expanding or relocating are affordable business costs, the availability of a technically trained and skilled work force, and connectivity,” said Smith.

Forty communities in 17 states received the awards, out of more than 300 applicants.

Communities selected do not have access to broadband connectivity for essential services of police, fire protection, hospitals, libraries and schools.

In return for receiving a grant, the communities will provide residents with computer and Internet access. The grant program supplements USDA Rural Development´s standard high-speed telecommunications loan program.

“Expanding the reach of information technology brings to the homes and businesses of America´s most remote rural communities new opportunities for accessing education, health and economic resources,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said.

“Placing the vast knowledge and resources at the fingertips of a great number of Americans will bring anew a world of information and opportunities.”

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