TOPEKA, Kan, Oct. 17, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Kansas Director Christy Davis today announced $6.6 million to connect rural residents, farmers and business owners in northeast Kansas to reliable high-speed internet.
“Keeping Kansans connected with reliable, high-speed internet brings new opportunities and better economic security,” Davis said. “Thanks to USDA’s ReConnect Program, the investment we are announcing today will drive economic security and rural prosperity for generations to come.”
Projects are being financed by the fifth round of the ReConnect Program, a program which is uniquely designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, most of which are in rural, remote and unserved communities.
Today’s investment is part of a larger national announcement that includes nine other states. The details of the Kansas announcement are:
- A $6,630,755 loan will help J.B.N. Telephone Company, Inc., of Holton, deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to provide high-speed internet. This network will benefit 329 people, seven businesses and 178 farms in Cloud, Republic and Washington counties.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
