U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito announced significant broadband investment funding for projects in Hampshire, Hardy, and Nicholas counties. These grants, secured through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development ReConnect program, will support two high-speed broadband infrastructure projects to create or improve rural broadband for thousands of people.

“Through my role on the Senate Appropriations Committee, I was able to help craft the ReConnect program because I knew how critical closing the digital divide was to inspire economic growth in rural West Virginia and rural America. Throughout my time in the Senate, I’ve supported ReConnect because it specifically addresses the unique difficulties that accompany broadband deployment in rural areas and is specifically equipped to tackle those issues head-on. This announcement will help connect West Virginians to reliable service, and I was proud to partner with the USDA to get it done. This is another step in my goal of connecting every last West Virginian home, school, and business. I look forward to seeing these projects completed,” Senator Capito said.

Individual grant details are below:

• $12,435,000 USDA Rural Development ReConnect grant to the Nicholas County Commission (Summersville, W.Va.) to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to provide high-speed internet. This network will benefit more than 6,000 people, over 100 businesses, over 100 farms, and multiple educational facilities in Nicholas County in West Virginia.
• $5,523,659 USDA Rural Development ReConnect grant to Hardy Telecommunications, Inc. (Lost River, W.Va.) to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to provide high-speed internet. This network will benefit more than 1,400 people, dozens of businesses, and a number of farms in Hampshire and Hardy counties in West Virginia.