The Dept. of Agriculture is making available $759 million in grants and loans to enable rural communities to access high-speed internet.
There are 49 recipients in 24 states. One is North Carolina’s AccessOn Networks, which will receive $17.5 million to provide broadband service to 100 businesses, 76 farms and 22 educational facilities in the state’s Halifax and Warren counties. Both counties are rural and have predominantly Black populations.
The administration is specifically targeting support for small towns and farm communities, places that generally favor Republicans over Democrats. Vilsack said he and Landrieu will “learn firsthand” from people in North Carolina about the opportunities internet access can create. They plan to meet with state and local officials including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper at Wake Technical Community College, where they’ll announce the grants. They will also hold a town hall in Elm City.