In 2009, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project, announced their Sustainable Broadband Adoption (SBA) grants program. The e-Vermont partners came together to apply for these funds to increase rural broadband adoption rates using an approach built around community. This community focus meant two principal things:
- E-Vermont listened to a community’s needs, goals, opportunities, and interests, and matched online tools in response.
- E-Vermont partners entered a community with deep expertise in a particular sector – including education, business, community development and municipal government – then brought the lessons they learned on the ground together into a broader understanding of whole-community needs.
The e-Vermont Community Broadband Project received one of only 12 grants in SBA’s first round. A strong group of additional funders matched the federal grant funds and the program launched in spring of 2010 with the selection of communities to receive services.
This report provides details accomplishments and lessons learned throughout our program. Click here to download a copy of the report (pdf).
The e-Vermont project was one of over 200 projects funded through a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). As a result of the project, in April 2016 NTIA published “Planning a Community Broadband Roadmap: A Toolkit for Local and Tribal Governments.” It offers tips and advice from BTOP grantees and provides links to resources and tools. The goal of this publication is to help communities expand broadband access locally to create jobs, improve educational opportunities, promote economic development, spur private investment and facilitate the delivery of essential social services to their citizens. VCRD is proud to have contributed to this effort.