Page 46 - 2022 Annual Report

2022 GRANTS & FINANCING

This year, the Vermont Community
ANNUAL Broadband Board (VCBB) approved $8,023,915
in Pre-Construction Grants and $20,865,889
REPORT We secured American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
in Construction Grants.
Fiscal Recovery Funds from 13 towns, totaling
$941,750 plus an added $941,750 in matching
We secured and completed a USDA Rural
NEK Broadband had a successful and busy year. funds from the VCBB.
Construction continued throughout 2022, and Business Development Grant to build seven
customers in Concord, Waterford, and Lunenburg miles, serving 90 premises.
were connected to our fiber-optic internet
network! We prepared multiple grant
applications, received significant funding from a BUILDING CAPACITY
multitude of sources, and were able to procure and We hired three full-time employees in 2022,
purchase a majority of the materials needed to and are in the process of hiring additional
continue construction throughout our district. staff.
PREPARING FOR Contracts have been finalized with all major
construction and operations companies.
CONSTRUCTION We secured warehouses in both Saint
Johnsbury and Brighton.
We purchased over 700 miles of fiber optic
cable.
More than $2 million in hardware and CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE
equipment was ordered. PROJECTED GROWTH BY YEAR
We submitted the necessary applications to
eight electric and communication utility
companies, giving us access to more than
12,000 utility poles spread over 500 miles of
roadways in 24 towns. We are now able to
prepare these poles for installation.
BUDGET SUMMARY
432 36
SERVICE AVAILABILITY MILES BUILT
OUR SERVICE IS AVAILABLE IN 2022, WE BUILT 36 MILES
TO 432 ADDRESSES IN OF OUR NETWORK
CONCORD, WATERFORD, AND THROUGHOUT THE NEK
LUNENBURG. BROADBAND DISTRICT.
ABOUT NEK BROADBAND
We are a Communications Union District (CUD), a
municipal entity representing our 51 member
communities in Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans
counties, plus Wolcott in Lamoille County. Our
district is building high-speed broadband internet
infrastructure for underserved communities in
the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
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get.nekbroadband.org.

46 Town of Brighton, VT