Celebrating Ten Years of the Office of Broadband Development

The Minnesota Department of Employment of and Economic Development (DEED) is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Office of Broadband Development (OBD) and the ten grant rounds that followed. Since OBD's establishment in 2014, we have been working to provide border-to-border, reliable high-speed internet access for all Minnesotans by providing resources and grants through various successful partnerships and collaborations. OBD's flagship Border-to-Border Grant Program, and our Low Population Density Grant Program and Line Extension program have awarded nearly $350 million in grants to expand service to more than 112,000 homes businesses statewide. These programs provide financial resources that encourage new and existing providers to invest in building broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas of the state. Other notable OBD programs and partnerships include:

• The Line Extension Program: Added to OBD's portfolio in 2022 to award grants to extend existing broadband infrastructure to unserved locations, this has so far made awards that will connect 840 customers to broadband through partnerships with 20 broadband providers.
• The Telecommuter Forward! Community Certification Program: Launched in 2019, this certification has been awarded to 47 communities that committed to supporting and promoting telecommuting.
• The K-12 Connect Forward Initiative: Launched in 2016, this initiative partners multiple innovative Minnesota organizations, agencies and associations that work to ensure that all students and teachers in Minnesota have access to scalable infrastructure, high-speed affordable bandwidth and ubiquitous access for distance learning.
• The Governor's Task Force on Broadband: The goal of the task force is to advise the executive and legislative branches on broadband policy, and how we can achieve the set goals and continue to close the digital inclusion gap.