Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday awarded $408 million from federal coronavirus relief funds to 49 entities to expand high-speed internet access in rural parts of the state.
The Republican governor said the electric cooperatives, local governments, cable companies and others who receive the funds will match the spending with $330 million of their own money. (Scroll down for a list of grant recipients.)
American Rescue Plan dollars at work
Kemp decided to spend much of Georgia’s $4.8 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief on broadband expansion, water and sewer improvements and offsetting the negative economic impact of the pandemic. Kemp appointed committees of lawmakers and others to recommend how he should spend the money. The broadband announcement is the first of that money to be spent.
“The projects chosen reflect the greatest needs and interests of hardworking Georgians,” Kemp said Tuesday.
Kemp’s office said projects awarded Tuesday could connect 132,000, or 27% of the remaining 482,000 homes and businesses that are unserved by high-speed internet in Georgia. His office said the state may redirect other federal funds to help areas that didn’t get some of this money, depending on federal guidance and how the current round of grant recipients perform.
The Federal Communications Commission has awarded another $326 million to areas that include nearly 180,000 locations using its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. Kemp’s office said the two pots of money could be combined to speed up the rollout of high-speed internet in many areas.
Bridging the technological divide
Republican House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge hailed the move as an outcome of a multiyear focus on improving economic and other opportunities in rural parts of the state.
“This is the kind of day we dreamed about,” Ralston said. “We knew that expanding broadband access was key to the ability of our rural area to grow jobs.”
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican, saluted the winners for painstaking work to maximize the reach of the money, saying they “earned these awards.”
“These are grants and we think grants mean gifts, but that is definitely not the case,” Tillery said.
Recipients include electric cooperatives, local governments, cable companies and small telephone companies.
Seven Northeast Georgia counties are among the 70 counties statewide slated to receive the grants. Residents and businesses in Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Stephens, and Union counties stand to benefit from a combined $31.3 million in regional infrastructure investments.
The largest grant, $25.4 million, will go to One Sumter Economic Development Foundation, which says it will be able to serve 5,726 locations in southwest Georgia’s Sumter County.
Tillery says the ARPA grants are a giant step toward resolving the technological divide between the state’s urban and rural communities.
The money was made available to Georgia through the Biden Administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act which Democrats pushed through Congress last year. Republicans in both chambers of Congress largely voted against the bill, with only 13 House GOP members voting in favor of it. All of Georgia’s GOP Congress members voted against the infrastructure bill.
Grant recipients
The ARPA boardband grant recipients are listed below, including the amount they’ll receive and the number of locations that they’ll serve:
Northeast Georgia
Elberton: $1,071,298.00; 836
Franklin County Board of Commissioners: $8,714,856.00; 2,812
Habersham County: $5,784,859.00; 3,199
Spectrum Southeast Clarke: $1,094,340.00; 574
Spectrum Southeast Hall: $689,201.00; 831
Stephens County: $2,807,804.00; 1,393
Union County: $11,162,231.00; 8,256
Statewide
Altamaha EMC: $5,973,474.00; 2,171
Baldwin County: $917,916.50; 751
Berrien County: $15,253,250.00; 4,737
Brooks County: $13,848,183.00; 3,749
Central Georgia EMC: $25,042,591.14; 19,996
Chattooga County: $3,040,732.00; 3,392
Colquitt County: $22,578,814.00; 7,448
Cook County: $10,919,655.00; 3,723
Development Authority of Dawson County: $1,332,621.00; 563
Development Authority of Lumpkin County: $3,779,902.00; 6,403
Diverse Power Incorporated: $25,000,000.00; 4,769
Early County: $11,394,739.00; 2,683
Fannin County Development Authority: $3,013,576.00; 996
Flint EMC: $25,048,343.81; 10,659
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Brantley Telephone Company (Charlton): $665,500.00; 513
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Elijay Telephone Company (Cherokee): $773,688.00; 385
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Chickamauga Telephone Company: $489,756.01; 123
Georgia Telecommunications Association -Hargray (Camden): $593,213.00; 1,289
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Hargray (Chatham): $206,774.00; 504
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Hargray (Tattnall): $216,916.00; 148
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Plant Telephone Company: $2,229,000.00; 2,170
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Trenton Telephone Company (Dade): $6,500,000.00; 943
Jenkins County: $11,907,225.00; 1,875
Joint Development Authority of Gilmer and Pickens County: $21,418,727.00; 4,259
Lee County Board of Commissioners: $12,541,241.00; 4,234
Lowndes County: $22,514,336.00; 18,218
McDuffie County: $3,817,531.00; 2,405
Ocmulgee EMC: $19,200,341.41; 9,000
One Sumter Economic Development Foundation, Inc.: $25,387,600.00; 5,726
Southern Rivers Energy: $15,682,160.77; 10,674
Spectrum Southeast Chattahoochee: $248,027.00; 446
Spectrum Southeast Green: $4,931,326.00; 1,583
Spectrum Southeast Newton: $998,651.00; 1,729
Spectrum Southeast Polk: $4,236,574.00; 2,272
Stewart County Commission: $6,662,285.00; 2,729
Terrell County: $9,641,770.00; 2,270
Thomas County Board of Commissioners: $6,840,302.00; 2,098
Twiggs County: $4,660,846.00; 2,034
Upson County Board of Commissioners: $4,430,000.00; 2,124
Walker County: $6,253,152.00; 3,339
Walton County: $3,159,215.00; 4,084
Washington EMC: $13,227,635.38: 6,500
This article has been updated to reflect that 13 House GOP members voted for the infrastructure bill. The Associated Press contributed to this report through Now Habersham’s news partnership with GPB News.
