Empower Rural Iowa, an initiative under the Iowa Economic Development Authority created to advance growth and investment in rural Iowa, has adopted a new strategic focus centered on finding innovative ideas with potential to scale statewide. A new executive order signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in October updated Empower Rural Iowa’s mission to be a group that “functions […]
The Department of Management Division of Information Technology, formerly the Office of the Chief Information Officer, has awarded $148,960,000 as part of the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant program. Awards are going to 39 broadband providers in 47 Iowa counties. This round of grant funds will be used to incentivize broadband infrastructure build out in […]
The Office of the Chief Information Officer has issued a Notice of Funding Availability, making available $148,960,000 in new program funds under the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant program. The application window is open until 5 p.m. Aug. 25. More information and application materials are available on the OCIO website.
Empower Rural Iowa grant program has invested over $350M so far By Lisa Rossi More than 100,000 homes, schools and businesses across Iowa will now have access to broadband internet due to a grant program that is funneling hundreds of millions in funding toward this effort. Rural Iowans say broadband will level the playing field […]
Five rural Iowa communities in Crawford and Keokuk counties can now access Mediacom Communications’ fiber-optic network, the company has announced. The extension of the network was powered by two grant awards from the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program totaling more than $150,000 and $1 million of Mediacom’s private capital. The five communities are Deloit, Kiron, […]
More than $210 million has been awarded to grant applicants to further expand high-speed internet across Iowa, the governor’s office announced Tuesday. According to a news release, the funding was awarded to more than 160 applicants as part of the investment to expand broadband across the state. “Our commitment to high-speed, reliable broadband for all Iowans continues to […]
Thirty-nine grants totaling $97.5 million have been awarded under the state’s Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grants Program, which was created this year by the Iowa Legislature to expand high-speed internet statewide. According to a news release from the governor’s office, 178 applications were received from broadband providers requesting nearly $300 million. In the release issued Tuesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds said expanding broadband statewide […]
Fourteen broadband providers received $15,542,302 in Empower Rural Iowa broadband grants from the state of Iowa this week, the office of Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on Monday. The funding is the remainder of the $50 million in CARES funding designated for broadband grants from a previous round, and cover 21 counties and more than 2,800 homes, […]
Nearly $9.4 million in grant funds are available in Iowa to expand broadband access to rural Iowa and 43 colleges and universities in the state. The state of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Education awarded nearly $4.4 million to increase internet connectivity for students in the 2020-21 school year; $5 million in additional broadband […]