Sen. Lamar Alexander on Thursday said three U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grants will help “enhance educational opportunities and economic development” in rural areas of Tennessee by providing funds to help build high-speed internet infrastructure.
“These grants are good news for people living in parts of Marion, Morgan, Grundy and Trousdale counties, who currently don’t have access to high-speed internet.
This combined $2.4 million in federal funding will help enhance educational opportunities and economic development in those rural areas,” Senator Alexander said. “That means children in Greentown, Palmer Mountain, southern Morgan County and northern Trousdale County will have access to the same high-speed internet that students in Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga or Memphis have access to. It will also give businesses one more reason to move to or expand in those Tennessee communities.”
The USDA approved $850,700 in grant funding to Ben Lomand Rural Telephone Cooperative to build a broadband network to serve residents on Palmer Mountain in Grundy County and residents in Greentown in Marion County. It also approved a separate $850,032 grant for North Central Communications to construct a fiber optics facility in the northern part of Trousdale County. A third $723,593 grant will go to Highland Communications to help build a fiber optics facility to serve residents in southern Morgan County.
Upon request, Senator Alexander sent letters of support for grants serving Grundy, Marion and Trousdale counties to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.