Governor Lee, Commissioner McWhorter Announce $163 Million in Funding to Further Expand Broadband

Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | 10:00am
  • TNECD to announce recipients of Last Mile and Middle Mile grants
  • Department introduces four new programs aimed at expanding broadband opportunity and access to high-quality, digital jobs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter announced today the state will award $162.7 million in broadband and digital opportunity grants.

In total, these investments will provide broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 236,000 Tennesseans across 92 counties.

“Broadband is essential to all Tennesseans, and that's why we are making strategic investments in our state's broadband infrastructure and digital opportunity programs to create a pathway to education, job training and greater opportunity statewide,” said Gov. Lee. "I thank the Financial Stimulus Accountability Group for their continued support and management of these broadband dollars."

With today’s announcement, TNECD has invested more than $715 million to expand the state’s broadband infrastructure, connecting more than 689,000 Tennesseans across 275,000 residential and business locations.

“More than $715 million has been invested to expand broadband under Governor Lee’s administration, and we are excited to announce additional funding today that will ensure Tennesseans have access to and benefit from high-speed internet, which opens the door to high-quality job training,” said Commissioner McWhorter.

Today, a total of $97.2 million is being funded by the Last Mile and Middle Mile infrastructure programs, and $65.5 million will be invested in digital opportunity programs. These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to ensure that all residents have access to high-speed internet by 2028, and have opportunities to develop digital skills, access high-quality tech jobs, connect to broadband enabled devices and access online learning and telehealth resources.

TNECD’s investment of $97.2 million in broadband infrastructure will provide access to more than 58,200 Tennesseans across 23,000 locations in 37 counties.

To promote broadband opportunity and high-paying digital jobs, TNECD launched four new programs during this funding opportunity: Digital Skills, Employment and Workforce Development (DSEW), Connected Community Facilities (CCF), Broadband Ready Communities (BRC) and Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Broadband Workforce grants.

The DSEW grants, totaling $27.9 million, will be distributed among 47 organizations that will offer a variety of training and education programs to advance digital skills and workforce development, creating a pipeline for well-paying digital jobs.

The CCF grants, totaling $26.5 million, will be distributed among 19 local governments and will facilitate digital opportunity by construction and renovation of spaces that offer services for digital advancement in workforce, healthcare, and education.

The BRC grants, totaling $6 million, will be distributed among 64 local governments and support community-based digital skills training, public Wi-Fi projects, distribution of free or low-cost devices and marketing for low-cost internet plans.

The TCAT Broadband Workforce grants, totaling $4.9 million, will be distributed among five TCATs that will offer a Telecommunications Electronics Technician diploma. The objective of the program will be to produce a well-trained and diverse telecommunications workforce capable of deploying and managing broadband infrastructure.

Grantees across all programs are investing approximately $48 million in matching funds and will complete their projects by December 31, 2026.

Below is a list of the recipients for the latest round of funding:

Last Mile

  1. Spectrum Southeast
    $431,902.30 – Serving parts of Polk County
  2. Spectrum Southeast
    $3,711,409.51 – Serving parts of Polk County
  3. ETC Communications
    $2,001,745.20 – Serving parts of Polk County
  4. Spectrum Southeast
    $892,549.89 – Serving parts of Hardin County
  5. Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative
    $1,276,470.54 – Serving parts of Hardin County
  6. Brightspeed
    $6,842,456.76 – Serving parts of Hardin County
  7. Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative
    $1,861,920.08 – Serving parts of Wayne County
  8. Spectrum Southeast
    $6,666,666.00 – Serving parts of Wayne County
  9. Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative
    $425,423.69 – Serving parts of Wayne County

Middle Mile

  1. Aeneas Communications
    $7,189,296.66 - Serving parts of Fayette, Tipton, Lauderdale, Haywood, Madison, Chester and Hardeman Counties
  2. Ben Lomand Communications
    $14,683,374.00 - Serving parts of Franklin and Moore Counties
  3. Dickson Electric Department
    $1,364,758.72 - Serving parts of Dickson, Cheatham, Houston, Hickman and Montgomery County
  4. Gibson Connect
    $7,097,544.00 - Serving parts of Gibson and Madison Counties
  5. BrightRidge
    $6,681,348.54 - Serving parts of Washington and Greene Counties
  6. Loretto Telephone Company
    $1,580,796.00 - Serving parts of Lawrence County
  7. Newport Utilities
    $15,192,642.36 - Serving parts of Cocke County
  8. Spectrum Southeast
    $291,729.98 - Serving parts of Blount County
  9. Spectrum Southeast
    $205,703.24 - Serving parts of Jefferson County
  10. Spectrum Southeast
    $191,788.42- Serving parts of Maury County
  11. Spectrum Southeast
    $163,179.11 - Serving parts of Monroe County
  12. Spectrum Southeast
    $135,850.12 - Serving parts of Montgomery County
  13. The Board of Public Utilities of the City of Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee
    $2,646,000.00 - Serving parts of Lincoln, Giles and Marshall Counties
  14. Twin Lakes Communications
    $1,055,316.50 - Serving parts of Putnam County
  15. United Communications
    $1,780,226.31 - Serving parts of Rutherford and Williamson Counties
  16. United Communications
    $3,150,106.56 - Serving parts of Franklin, Moore and Bedford Counties
  17. United Communications
    $3,058,513.28 - Serving parts of Bedford, Rutherford and Marshall Counties
  18. West Kentucky Rural Telephone Cooperative Corporation, Inc.
    $6,610,468.00 - Serving parts of Henry and Weakley Counties

Connected Community Facilities

  1. Carroll County Government
    $1,800,000.00 – Serving Carroll County
  2. City of Bolivar
    $589,712.14 – Serving Hardeman County
  3. City of Brownsville
    $1,980,000.00 – Serving Haywood County
  4. City of Jackson
    $405,433.80 – Serving Madison County
  5. Clay County
    $1,712,835.00 – Serving Clay County
  6. Davidson County
    $1,978,484.36 – Serving Davidson County
  7. Decatur County
    $1,043,216.91 – Serving Decatur County and the Decatur County School System
  8. Hamilton County
    $1,421,028.00 – Serving Hamilton County
  9. Hartsville/Trousdale County
    $2,000,000.44 – Serving Trousdale County
  10. Houston County
    $2,000,000.00 – Serving Houston County
  11. Jackson County
    $311,850.00 – Serving Jackson County
  12. Johnson County
    $2,000,000.00 – Serving Johnson County
  13. Lewis County
    $1,596,114.00 – Serving Lewis County
  14. Maury County
    $2,000,000.00 – Serving Maury County
  15. Montgomery County
    $216,531.00 – Serving Montgomery County
  16. The City of Dyersburg
    $1,798,065.00 – Serving Dyer County
  17. United Way of West Tennessee
    $1,755,817.70 – Serving parts of Haywood, Fayette and Tipton Counties
  18. Warren County
    $675,000.00 – Serving Warren County
  19. Wayne County
    $2,000,000.00 – Serving parts of Wayne, Lawerence, Lewis, Hardin and Perry Counties
  20. Williamson County
    $312,454.21 – Serving Williamson County

Broadband Ready Communities

  1. Anderson County
    $100,000.00
  2. Benton County
    $100,000.00
  3. Blount County
    $100,000.00
  4. Carroll County
    $99,878.00
  5. Carter County
    $30,664.00
  6. Chester County
    $100,000.00
  7. City of Jellico
    $100,000.00
  8. Clay County
    $56,990.00
  9. Hancock County
    $99,889.55
  10. Stewart County
    $100,000.00
  11. Crockett County
    $99,900.00
  12. Cumberland County
    $98,863.03
  13. Decatur County
    $100,000.00
  14. Dickson County
    $100,000.00
  15. Dyer County
    $99,985.00
  16. Fayette County
    $100,000.00
  17. Fentress County
    $81,848.08
  18. Gibson County
    $99,900.00
  19. Grainger County
    $100,000.00
  20. Greene County
    $99,592.00
  21. Hamblen County
    $100,000.00
  22. Hardeman County
    $100,000.00
  23. Hardin County
    $99,017.07
  24. Hartsville/Trousdale County
    $100,000.00
  25. Haywood County
    $100,000.00
  26. Henderson County
    $99,999.41
  27. Henry County
    $99,900.00
  28. Houston County
    $100,000.00
  29. Humphreys County
    $100,000.00
  30. Jackson County
    $74,616.06
  31. Johnson County
    $100,000.00
  32. Knox County
    $100,000.00
  33. Lake County
    $99,600.00
  34. Lauderdale County
    $100,000.00
  35. Lewis County
    $100,000.00
  36. Lincoln County
    $100,000.00
  37. Macon County
    $58,604.47
  38. Madison County
    $100,000.00
  39. Marshall County
    $100,000.00
  40. Maury County
    $100,000.00
  41. McNairy County
    $98,016.10
  42. Monroe County
    $100,000.00
  43. Montgomery County
    $100,000.00
  44. Morgan County
    $100,000.00
  45. Overton County
    $93,564.62
  46. Pickett County
    $52,573.55
  47. Putnam County
    $98,379.00
  48. Robertson County
    $100,000.00
  49. Rutherford County
    $100,000.00
  50. Scott County
    $100,000.00
  51. Shelby County
    $100,000.00
  52. Smith County
    $94,500.00
  53. Sumner County
    $100,000.00
  54. Tipton County
    $100,000.00
  55. Unicoi County
    $98,805.10
  56. Union County
    $100,000.00
  57. Van Buren County
    $25,937.79
  58. Warren County
    $96,208.00
  59. Washington County
    $100,000.00
  60. Wayne County
    $100,000.00
  61. Weakley County
    $99,900.00
  62. White County
    $76,961.80
  63. Williamson County
    $100,000.00
  64. Wilson County
    $100,000.00

Digital Skills, Education and Workforce

  1. AngelStreet
    $232,278.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County
  2. ArtsBuild
    $185,871.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton County
  3. Bristol Public Library
    $93,989.00 – Serving parts of Sullivan County
  4. Bledsoe County Board of Education
    $61,649.00 – Serving parts of Bledsoe County
  5. CodeCrew
    $900,000.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County
  6. Cloudwise Academy LLC
    $346,681.00 – Serving parts of Washington, Carter, Greene, Sullivan and Unicoi Counties
  7. COMP-U-DOPT, INC.
    $725,694.00 – Serving parts of Gibson, Obion, Lake, Henry, Dyer, Weakly, Carroll and Crocket Counties
  8. Darrell S. Freeman Sr. Incubation and Innovation Center - Fisk University
    $648,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County
  9. Delta Human Resource Agency
    $232,959.00 – Serving parts of Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale Counties
  10. Dynamo Studios
    $997,931.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton County
  11. Elizabethton Chamber of Commerce Foundation
    $11,781.00 – Serving parts of Carter County
  12. Fisk University
    $663,300.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County
  13. First Baptist Cares
    $122,770.00 – Serving parts of Shelby and Madison Counties
  14. FUTURO, Inc.
    $225,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson, Rutherford, Wilson and Putnam Counties
  15. gener8tor Management, LLC
    $899,999.00 – Serving parts of McMinn, Rhea, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion, Grundy, Polk, Meigs, Bradley and Hamilton Counties
  16. Greene County Trustee
    $1,000,000.00 – Serving parts of Greene County
  17. Greater Nashville Regional Council
    $404,893.00 – Serving parts of Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson and Wilson Counties
  18. Nashville Business Incubation Center
    $900,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson and Nashville-Davidson County MSA Counties
  19. Helping Hands of Middle & West Tennessee
    $808,539.00 – Serving parts of Madison, Haywood and Hardeman Counties
  20. Jackson State Community College
    $890,894.00 – Serving parts of Madison, Gibson, Decatur, Henderson, Hardeman, Hardin, Chester, Carroll, McNairy and Benton Counties
  21. Kaifa LLC
    $320,456.00 – Serving parts of Washington County
  22. Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee
    $500,000.00 – Serving parts of Knox County
  23. Lane College
    $891,634.00 – Serving parts of Madison, Davidson, Fayette and Tipton Counties
  24. La Paz Chattanooga
    $723,322.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton County
  25. Latino Memphis
    $854,355.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County
  26. Maryville College
    $776,814.00 – Serving parts of Blount County
  27. Memphis Library Foundation
    $300,510.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County
  28. Memphis Urban League
    $860,494.00 – Serving parts of Shelby, Fayette, Madison and Haywood Counties
  29. Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency
    $900,000.00 – Serving parts of Davidson Counties
  30. Mid Cumberland Human Resource Agency
    $66,361.00 – Serving parts of Dickson County
  31. Morecomputing Learning Services, Inc.
    $374,969.00 – Serving parts of Davidson, Rutherford and Montgomery Counties
  32. Nashville International Center for Empowerment
    $441,061.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County
  33. Nashville Public Education Foundation
    $999,814.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County
  34. Northeast State Community College
    $980,591.00 – Serving parts of Sullivan, Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington Counties
  35. Pivot Technology School
    $872,910.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County
  36. ROANEnet
    $254,079.00 – Serving parts of Roane and Rhea Counties
  37. Shora Foundation
    $204,385.00 – Serving parts of Knox County
  38. Soulsville Foundation
    $962,000.00 – Serving parts of Shelby County
  39. South Memphis Renewal Com. Dev. Corp.
    $865,484.00 – Serving parts of Haywood, Hardeman, Gibson, Fayette, Shelby and Tipton Counties
  40. Southeast Tennessee Development District
    $198,000.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton, Bledsoe, Bradley, Grundy, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie Counties
  41. Southwest Human Resource Agency
    $895,116.00 – Serving parts of Chester, Decatur, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and McNairy Counties
  42. TECH901
    $813,384.00 – Serving parts of Shelby, Fayette and Tipton Counties
  43. The Enterprise Center
    $1,979,965.00 – Serving parts of Hamilton, Bradley, Polk, McMinn, Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Rhea, Meigs and Grundy Counties
  44. The Village at Glencliff
    $272,897.00 – Serving parts of Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner, Wilson, Maury, Robertson, Dickson Cheatham, Hickman, Macon, Smith, Cannon and Trousdale Counties
  45. United Way of West Tennessee
    $58,613.00 – Serving parts of Madison County
  46. University of Tennessee
    $512,916.00 – Serving parts of Knox, Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Cocke, Cumberland, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sevier and Union Counties
  47. University of Tennessee at Martin
    $343,640.00 – Serving parts of Lauderdale Dyer and Tipton Counties
  48. Urban Housing Solutions
    $407,206.00 – Serving parts of Davidson County

TCAT Broadband Workforce

  1. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Harriman
    $994,349.50
  2. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Henry/Carroll
    $1,000,000.00
  3. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Hohenwald
    $1,000,000.00
  4. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Livingston
    $1,000,000.00
  5. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro
    $1,000,000.00

Applications for the second round of CCF and BRC programs will open on May 15, 2024, and the DSEW program will open on June 15, 2024.

To learn more about Tennessee’s broadband initiatives or apply for these programs, please visit here.

About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Like us on Facebook. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

TNECD Media Contact
Lindsey Tipton
Director of Communications
(615) 339-6608
Lindsey.Tipton@tn.gov