$163 Million In Funding Will Further Expand Broadband

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter announced Tuesday the state will award $162.7 million in broadband and digital opportunity grants.

In total, these investments will provide broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 236,000 Tennesseans across 92 counties.

"Broadband is essential to all Tennesseans, and that's why we are making strategic investments in our state's broadband infrastructure and digital opportunity programs to create a pathway to education, job training and greater opportunity statewide,” said Governor Lee. "I thank the Financial Stimulus Accountability Group for their continued support and management of these broadband dollars."

With Tuesday’s announcement, TNECD has invested more than $715 million to expand the state’s broadband infrastructure, connecting more than 689,000 Tennesseans across 275,000 residential and business locations.

"More than $715 million has been invested to expand broadband under Governor Lee’s administration, and we are excited to announce additional funding today that will ensure Tennesseans have access to and benefit from high-speed internet, which opens the door to high-quality job training,” said Commissioner McWhorter.

A total of $97.2 million is being funded by the Last Mile and Middle Mile infrastructure programs, and $65.5 million will be invested in digital opportunity programs. These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to ensure that all residents have access to high-speed internet by 2028, and have opportunities to develop digital skills, access high-quality tech jobs, connect to broadband enabled devices and access online learning and telehealth resources.

TNECD’s investment of $97.2 million in broadband infrastructure will provide access to more than 58,200 Tennesseans across 23,000 locations in 37 counties.

To promote broadband opportunity and high-paying digital jobs, TNECD launched four new programs during this funding opportunity: Digital Skills, Employment and Workforce Development, Connected Community Facilities, Broadband Ready Communities and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Broadband Workforce grants.

The DSEW grants, totaling $27.9 million, will be distributed among 47 organizations that will offer a variety of training and education programs to advance digital skills and workforce development, creating a pipeline for well-paying digital jobs.

The CCF grants, totaling $26.5 million, will be distributed among 19 local governments and will facilitate digital opportunity by construction and renovation of spaces that offer services for digital advancement in workforce, healthcare, and education.

The BRC grants, totaling $6 million, will be distributed among 64 local governments and support community-based digital skills training, public Wi-Fi projects, distribution of free or low-cost devices and marketing for low-cost internet plans.

The TCAT Broadband Workforce grants, totaling $4.9 million, will be distributed among five TCATs that will offer a Telecommunications Electronics Technician diploma. The objective of the program will be to produce a well-trained and diverse telecommunications workforce capable of deploying and managing broadband infrastructure.

Grantees across all programs are investing approximately $48 million in matching funds and will complete their projects by Dec. 31, 2026.

Below is a list of the recipients for the latest round of funding:

Last Mile

1. Spectrum Southeast 

$431,902.30 – Serving parts of Polk County

2. Spectrum Southeast 

$3,711,409.51 – Serving parts of Polk County

3. ETC Communications            

$2,001,745.20 – Serving parts of Polk County

4. Spectrum Southeast 

$892,549.89 – Serving parts of Hardin County

5. Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative        

$1,276,470.54 – Serving parts of Hardin County

6. Brightspeed   

$6,842,456.76 – Serving parts of Hardin County

7. Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative        

$1,861,920.08 – Serving parts of Wayne County

8. Spectrum Southeast 

$6,666,666.00 – Serving parts of Wayne County

9. Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative        

$425,423.69 – Serving parts of Wayne County

Middle Mile

1. Aeneas Communications

$7,189,296.66 - Serving parts of Fayette, Tipton, Lauderdale, Haywood, Madison, Chester and Hardeman Counties

2. Ben Lomand Communications

$14,683,374.00 - Serving parts of Franklin and Moore Counties

3. Dickson Electric Department

$1,364,758.72 - Serving parts of Dickson, Cheatham, Houston, Hickman and Montgomery County

4. Gibson Connect

$7,097,544.00 - Serving parts of Gibson and Madison Counties

5. BrightRidge

$6,681,348.54 - Serving parts of Washington and Greene Counties

6. Loretto Telephone Company

$1,580,796.00 - Serving parts of Lawrence County

7. Newport Utilities

$15,192,642.36 - Serving parts of Cocke County

8. Spectrum Southeast

$291,729.98 - Serving parts of Blount County

9. Spectrum Southeast

$205,703.24 - Serving parts of Jefferson County

10. Spectrum Southeast

$191,788.42- Serving parts of Maury County 

11. Spectrum Southeast

$163,179.11 - Serving parts of Monroe County

12. Spectrum Southeast

$135,850.12 - Serving parts of Montgomery County

13. The Board of Public Utilities of the City of Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee

$2,646,000.00 - Serving parts of Lincoln, Giles and Marshall Counties

14. Twin Lakes Communications

$1,055,316.50 - Serving parts of Putnam County

15. United Communications

$1,780,226.31 - Serving parts of Rutherford and Williamson Counties

16. United Communications

$3,150,106.56 - Serving parts of Franklin, Moore and Bedford Counties 

17. United Communications

$3,058,513.28 - Serving parts of Bedford, Rutherford and Marshall Counties

18. West Kentucky Rural Telephone Cooperative Corporation, Inc. 

$6,610,468.00 - Serving parts of Henry and Weakley Counties

 

Connected Community Facilities

1. Carroll County Government

$1,800,000.00 – Serving Carroll County

2. City of Bolivar

$589,712.14 – Serving Hardeman County

3. City of Brownsville

$1,980,000.00 – Serving Haywood County

4. City of Jackson

$405,433.80 – Serving Madison County

5. Clay County

$1,712,835.00 – Serving Clay County

6. Davidson County

$1,978,484.36 – Serving Davidson County

7. Hamilton County

$1,421,028.00 – Serving Hamilton County

8. Hartsville/Trousdale County

$2,000,000.44 – Serving Trousdale County

9. Houston County

$2,000,000.00 – Serving Houston County

10. Jackson County

$311,850.00 – Serving Jackson County

11. Johnson County

$2,000,000.00 – Serving Johnson County

12. Lewis County

$1,596,114.00 – Serving Lewis County

13. Maury County

$2,000,000.00 – Serving Maury County

14. Montgomery County

$216,531.00 – Serving Montgomery County

15. The City of Dyersburg

$1,798,065.00 – Serving Dyer County

16. United Way of West Tennessee

$1,755,817.70 – Serving parts of Haywood, Fayette and Tipton Counties

17. Warren County

$675,000.00 – Serving Warren County

18. Wayne County

$2,000,000.00 – Serving parts of Wayne, Lawerence, Lewis, Hardin and Perry Counties

19. Williamson County

$312,454.21 – Serving Williamson County

 

Broadband Ready Communities 

1. Anderson County       

$100,000.00

2. Benton County           

$100,000.00

3. Blount County

$100,000.00

4. Carroll County

$99,878.00

5. Carter County

$30,664.00

6. Chester County          

$100,000.00

7. City of Jellico 

$100,000.00

8. Clay County   

$56,990.00

9. Hancock County        

$99,889.55

10. Stewart County          

$100,000.00

11. Crockett County

$99,900.00

12. Cumberland County  

$98,863.03

13. Decatur County          

$100,000.00

14. Dickson County         

$100,000.00

15. Dyer County   

$99,985.00

16. Fayette County          

$100,000.00

17. Fentress County        

$81,848.08

18. Gibson County           

$99,900.00

19. Grainger County        

$100,000.00

20. Greene County           

$99,592.00

21. Hamblen County

$100,000.00

22. Hardeman County     

$100,000.00

23. Hardin County

$99,017.07

24. Hartsville/Trousdale County 

$100,000.00

25. Haywood County       

$100,000.00

26. Henderson County     

$99,999.41

27. Henry County 

$99,900.00

28. Houston County         

$100,000.00

29. Humphreys County    

$100,000.00

30. Jackson County         

$74,616.06

31. Johnson County        

$100,000.00

32. Knox County  

$100,000.00

33. Lake County   

$99,600.00

34. Lauderdale County    

$100,000.00

35. Lewis County 

$100,000.00

36. Lincoln County           

$100,000.00

37. Macon County

$58,604.47

38. Madison County        

$100,000.00

39. Marshall County        

$100,000.00

40. Maury County  

$100,000.00

41. McNairy County         

$98,016.10

42. Monroe County          

$100,000.00

43. Montgomery County 

$100,000.00

44. Morgan County          

$100,000.00

45. Overton County         

$93,564.62

46. Pickett County           

$52,573.55

47. Putnam County

$98,379.00

48. Robertson County      

$100,000.00

49. Rutherford County     

$100,000.00

50. Scott County  

$100,000.00

51. Shelby County

$100,000.00

52. Smith County 

$94,500.00

53. Sumner County          

$100,000.00

54. Tipton County

$100,000.00

55. Unicoi County

$98,805.10

56. Union County 

$100,000.00

57. Van Buren County     

$25,937.79

58. Warren County           

$96,208.00

59. Washington County   

$100,000.00

60. Wayne County

$100,000.00

61. Weakley County         

$99,900.00

62. White County 

$76,961.80

63. Williamson County    

$100,000.00

64. Wilson County

$100,000.00

 

Digital Skills, Education and Workforce

1.                  AngelStreet

$232,278.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County

2.                  ArtsBuild

$185,871.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton County

3.                  Bristol Public Library

$93,989.00 – Serving parts of Sullivan County

4.                  Bledsoe County Board of Education

$61,649.00 – Serving parts of Bledsoe County

5.                  CodeCrew

$900,000.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County

6.                  Cloudwise Academy LLC

$346,681.00 – Serving parts of Washington, Carter, Greene, Sullivan and Unicoi Counties

7.                  COMP-U-DOPT, INC.

$725,694.00 – Serving parts of Gibson, Obion, Lake, Henry, Dyer, Weakly, Carroll and Crocket Counties

8.                  Darrell S. Freeman Sr. Incubation and Innovation Center - Fisk University

$648,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

9.                  Delta Human Resource Agency

$232,959.00 – Serving parts of Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale Counties

10.              Dynamo Studios

$997,931.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton County

11.              Elizabethton Chamber of Commerce Foundation

$11,781.00 – Serving parts of Carter County

12.              Fisk University

$663,300.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

13.              First Baptist Cares

$122,770.00 – Serving parts of Shelby and Madison Counties

14.              FUTURO, Inc.

$225,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson, Rutherford, Wilson and Putnam Counties

15.              gener8tor Management, LLC

$899,999.00 – Serving parts of McMinn, Rhea, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion, Grundy, Polk, Meigs, Bradley and Hamilton Counties

16.              Greene County Trustee

$1,000,000.00 – Serving parts of Greene County

17.              Greater Nashville Regional Council

$404,893.00 – Serving parts of Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson and Wilson Counties

18.              Nashville Business Incubation Center

$900,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson and Nashville-Davidson County MSA Counties

19.              Helping Hands of Middle & West Tennessee

$808,539.00 – Serving parts of Madison, Haywood and Hardeman Counties

20.              Jackson State Community College

$890,894.00 – Serving parts of Madison, Gibson, Decatur, Henderson, Hardeman, Hardin, Chester, Carroll, McNairy and Benton Counties

21.              Kaifa LLC

$320,456.00 – Serving parts of Washington County

22.              Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee

$500,000.00 – Serving parts of Knox County

23.              Lane College 

$891,634.00 – Serving parts of Madison, Davidson, Fayette and Tipton Counties

24.              La Paz Chattanooga

$723,322.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton County

25.              Latino Memphis

$854,355.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County

26.              Maryville College

$776,814.00 – Serving parts of Blount County

27.              Memphis Library Foundation

$300,510.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County

28.              Memphis Urban League

$860,494.00 – Serving parts of Shelby, Fayette, Madison and Haywood Counties

29.              Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency

$900,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson Counties

30.              Mid Cumberland Human Resource Agency

$66,361.00 – Serving parts of Dickson County

31.              Morecomputing Learning Services, Inc.

$374,969.00 – Serving parts of Davidson, Rutherford and Montgomery Counties

32.              Nashville International Center for Empowerment

$441,061.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

33.              Nashville Public Education Foundation

$999,814.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

34.              Northeast State Community College

$980,591.00 – Serving parts of Sullivan, Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington Counties

35.              Pivot Technology School

$872,910.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

36.              ROANEnet

$254,079.00 – Serving parts of Roane and Rhea Counties

37.              Shora Foundation

$204,385.00– Serving parts of Knox County

38.              Soulsville Foundation

$962,000.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County

39.              South Memphis Renewal Com. Dev. Corp.

$865,484.00 – Serving parts of Haywood, Hardeman, Gibson, Fayette, Shelby and Tipton Counties

40.              Southeast Tennessee Development District

$198,000.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton, Bledsoe, Bradley, Grundy, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie Counties

41.              Southwest Human Resource Agency

$895,116.00 – Serving parts of Chester, Decatur, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and McNairy Counties

42.              TECH901

$813,384.00 – Serving parts of Shelby, Fayette and Tipton Counties

43.              The Enterprise Center

$1,979,965.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton, Bradley, Polk, McMinn, Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Rhea, Meigs and Grundy Counties

44.              The Village at Glencliff

$272,897.00 – Serving parts of Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner, Wilson, Maury, Robertson, Dickson Cheatham, Hickman, Macon, Smith, Cannon and Trousdale Counties

45.              United Way of West Tennessee

$58,613.00 – Serving parts of Madison County

46.              University of Tennessee

$512,916.00 – Serving parts of Knox, Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Cocke, Cumberland, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sevier and Union Counties

47.              University of Tennessee at Martin

$343,640.00 – Serving parts of Lauderdale Dyer and Tipton Counties

48.              Urban Housing Solutions

$407,206.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

 

TCAT Broadband Workforce

1. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Harriman

$994,349.50

2. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Henry/Carroll

$1,000,000.00

3. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Hohenwald

$1,000,000.00

4. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Livingston

$1,000,000.00

5. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro

$1,000,000.00

 

Applications for the second round of CCF and BRC programs will open on May 15, 2024, and the DSEW program will open on June 15, 2024.

 

To learn more about Tennessee’s broadband initiatives or apply for these programs, please visit here.