The Oregon Broadband Office is pleased to announce that Josephine County is among the awardees of Broadband Technical Assistance Program (BTAP) grants of up to $150,000 per county.
The grants can be used for eligible broadband planning and pre-construction activities, staffing and grant application support. A total of $1.5 million will be distributed to 11 projects to prepare for broadband infrastructure.
Applicants had until February 2024 to apply for this competitive grant, which underwent a rigorous scoring review by Oregon Broadband Office staff and the Oregon Broadband Grant Application Review Committee based on the criteria outlined in the Program Handbook.
The $150,000 grant for Josephine County will support efforts to attain a consultant who will perform strategic and feasibility planning services as well as stakeholder meeting engagement, permitting analysis, request for proposal and selection of lead applicant for the program, and application preparation. The consultant will serve as the Josephine County Broadband Coordinator and grant detailed activities.
The funding came from the Oregon Universal Service Fund.
BTAP offers support to local and regional planning efforts developing broadband financing and deployment strategies for the unserved, those without service or with slow broadband speeds, and underserved locations in Oregon.
