The Office of Broadband Development recently announced that a Sherburne County broadband infrastructure project in Senate District 27 will receive a $182,576 grant through the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program. 

The Sherburne County Area Fiber Extension is a last-mile project that will expand broadband access to 240 unserved households near the Travelers Country Club on the Mississippi River, southeast of Clearwater. Once the project is complete, internet speeds will be between 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload to 10 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload, meeting and exceeding Minnesota’s 2026 state speed goal.

“From business to education, we have all become increasingly reliant on devices that require high-speed internet,” Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) said. “That is why it’s so essential to improve broadband access across our state. In recent years, Minnesota has made great strides in expanding coverage to a wider portion of unserved or underserved areas. The latest round in grants will get connect even more Minnesotans to quality broadband. Thank you to the Sherburne County internet service provider and its partners for your work in securing this grant!”

This program, which was created in 2014, funds the expansion of broadband service to areas of our state that are unserved or underserved. In the latest round of funding, 30 projects will be funded with a combination of both state general fund revenues and federal dollars. Coupled with a $652 million award from the federal government, Minnesota has the opportunity to build out access to information and economic development opportunities across the state. 

A full listing of 2023 Border-to-Border Broadband Program grant awards and project descriptions is available, HERE.