Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced 14 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments to help bridge the technological divide, create jobs, and improve education and public safety in communities across the country. The investments, totaling $206.8 million in grants, are the final awards in a program to increase broadband Internet access and adoption, enhancing the quality of life for Americans and laying the groundwork for sustainable economic growth.
Among the final awards is a $155 million grant to create a wireless broadband network for public safety officials in Los Angeles County and a $5 million grant to Michigan State University to train more than 3,000 high school students and displaced auto workers for broadband-related IT jobs.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced a grant of $190 million for broadband mapping. It wound up spending $293 million, and the final grant will allow that mapping by all the states, territories and the District of Columbia, to continue for another three years beyond the initial two-year period envisioned.
Comprehensive Community Infrastructure awards:
California: Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications Systems Authority. This $154.6 million grant will fund deployment of an interoperable wireless public safety broadband network across Los Angeles County to serve more than 80 public safety agencies and up to 34,000 first responders. The network will enable computer-aided dispatch, rapid law enforcement queries, real-time video streaming, medical telemetry and patient tracking, and other uses.
Colorado: Adams County Communications Center, Inc. This $12.1 million grant will fund deployment of an interoperable wireless public safety broadband network in an area that includes Adams County and the Denver International Airport to serve more than 20 public safety agencies and up to 2,000 first responders. The project will enable uses such as HAZMAT database query and records access, criminal checks, airport perimeter security, and emergency runway clearance.
Public Computer Center awards:
California: Monterey County Office of Education. This $3.6 million grant will fund approximately three new and 26 upgraded public computer centers, and 500 new or upgraded workstations, to serve up to an additional 5,000 users each week and provide training for as many as 10,000 residents.
Colorado: Colorado Board of Education. This $2.3 million grant will fund approximately six new and 70 upgraded public computer centers, and 1,200 new or upgraded workstations, to serve up to an additional 21,000 users each week and provide training for as many as 90,000 residents.
Delaware: Delaware Department of State. This $1.9 million grant will fund the upgrade of 32 public computer centers and approximately 50 new workstations to serve up to an additional 1,300 users each week and provide training for as many as 2,000 residents.
Florida: Florida A&M University. This $1.5 million grant will fund a new public computer center with 65 workstations to serve an estimated 2,800 users each week and provide training for as many as 14,500 residents.
Nevada: Lyon County School District. This $745,000 grant will fund six new public computer centers with approximately 120 workstations to serve up to an estimated 1,700 users each week and provide training for as many as 7,500 residents.
New York: Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. This $642,000 grant will fund five new public computer centers with approximately 60 workstations to serve up to an additional 500 users each week and provide training for as many as 2,700 residents.
Sustainable Broadband Adoption awards:
Arkansas: Connect Arkansas, Inc. This $3.7 million grant will fund training for approximately 2,600 residents, focusing on digital literacy, online entrepreneurship, and access to telehealth services.
California: California Emerging Technology Fund. This $7.1 million grant will fund a project designed to place unemployed residents in IT-industry jobs by training approximately 37,000 people and providing computers to qualified low-income residents who graduate from a broadband training curriculum.
California: City and County of San Francisco. This $7.9 million grant will fund a project to provide broadband-related training to approximately 8,400 seniors, low-income individuals, and others in economically and socially vulnerable groups.
California, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Texas: Portland State University. This $3.3 million grant will fund digital literacy and other training tailored to adult learners. The project intends to train approximately 23,000 people, focusing on economically vulnerable populations, to prepare them for careers in the digital economy.
Michigan: Michigan State University. This $5.2 million grant will fund a project to provide broadband-related training to approximately 3,200 residents, focusing on high school students, displaced workers, and small businesses in 11 cities across the state. One project aim is to prepare displaced former industrial workers for IT jobs.
Washington: Toledo Telephone Company. This $2.1 million grant will fund a project with the Cowlitz Tribe to provide broadband-related training to approximately 750 residents. Qualified residents who complete a training curriculum may receive subsidized equipment and broadband access.
