Nobles County Board (MN) supports rural broadband initiative with $4 million after USDA denial

The Nobles County (MN) Board of Commissioners boosted a local “Fiber to Home” broadband effort by reaffirming its $2 million commitment and kicking in another $2 million after a grant application for US Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding was denied. Mark Loosbrock, secretary and treasurer of Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company which is spearheading the project, explained that in applying for the grant, engineers and consultants used maps to assess the area already served by broadband, and given that information believed they would be given a high number of points on the grant’s scoring rubric. However, those assessing the application had maps not available to the co-op’s engineers, Loosbrock said. The co-op was told it could apply for a grant in the next round of funding — which has a November deadline, driving co-op representatives to return to the county board to ask for direction and, potentially, enough local matching funding to reapply for the grant. In the end, commissioners reaffirmed their prior commitment of $2 million, once again contingent on the grant being accepted, and then voted to put $1 million of its federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money into the project.