The Blandin Foundation will be selecting four new Blandin Broadband Communities for a new cohort of community broadband partners. This program emphasizes broadband adoption and use in rural communities through the provision of leadership and project development facilitation services as well as project funding of up to $75,000. Project examples include public wi-fi access, business technology assessment and training, workforce training, online community and business marketing, online government services and other community generated projects. Communities are required to create a steering team to oversee the effort over the 18-24 month program period.
For communities that have quality broadband services in place, this program can showcase the value of broadband network deployment. For communities working to improve their broadband networks, Blandin Broadband Communities can provide a platform for building community consensus that enhanced broadband networks are critical to a community’s future.
The application is now online at https://blandinfoundation.org/programs/expanding-opportunity/broadband/blandin-broadband-communities-program/. The application deadline is January 24th.
