Garden Valley Technologies has been awarded a Border-to-Border Broadband Development/Low Density population Grant from the State of Minnesota through the DEED Office of Broadband Development. This grant will assist in a broadband build to rural Mahnomen County and is part of a last mile Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) project where fiber optic connections are brought to every location.
Residents and businesses in this area expressed support for GVT’s Border-to-Border Grant application, which gives GVT the opportunity to offer Internet access to rural Mahnomen County. This underserved area needs fast, reliable Internet service to help residents progress, especially as technology continues to advance around them.
This particular grant funds up to 75% of the eligible project costs to help providers build out broadband infrastructure in some of the more remote or costly-to-serve areas of the state. This assistance is critical when it comes to plowing state-of-the-art fiber optic cable to the homes in such a rural area. It will allow these residences to have access to Internet speeds up to 6 Gbps, local phone service, and digital video services, which includes over 200 channels.
“This is exciting news, and I would like to thank the Office of Broadband and the State of Minnesota for this grant opportunity,” said Timothy Brinkman, CEO/General Manager at Garden Valley Technologies. “Grants like these make it possible to build out broadband in highly rural environments.”
The Border-to-Border Broadband project for rural Mahnomen County will bring service to 287 unserved and underserved locations which include 221 residential households, 6 businesses, 56 farms, and 4 community institutions in northwest Minnesota. The total project cost of $6,168,020 will be financed by the $4,626,012 Minnesota Border-to- Border Broadband Grant Funds with the remaining costs covered by Garden Valley Technologies. With the large size this project covering 115 square miles with 142 miles of fiber optic cable being installed, it will be constructed over 2 construction seasons with the Mahnomen half of the area constructed in 2025 and the Naytahwaush half being constructed in 2026. Residents living in the area will receive communication from GVT on next steps in the project.
