The Washington State Broadband Office and WSU Extension are leading a statewide effort to develop broadband action and digital equity plans at the County level that will include local concerns, challenges, and opportunities into the statewide planning process. This is a requirement that the state of Washington must meet in order to access federal funds that are designated for broadband deployment as well as meeting digital equity and inclusion requirements.
This effort by the state of Washington will provide access to approximately $900 million in infrastructure funding that will be disbursed from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration over the next five years. These funds were provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
MCEDD is working in partnership with Klickitat and Skamania Counties to support their participation in this statewide broadband planning effort! MCEDD will be coordinating county-level Broadband Action Teams and conducting outreach to partners around broadband infrastructure availability and needs. This outreach and planning will support the utilization and adoption of broadband technology for the whole community and will provide tremendous economic benefits at all levels: personal, business and community services including health, fire, emergency and education.
Broadband planning sessions with the Community Councils in Klickitat and Skamania Counties are scheduled through April and May. If you are a Washington Gorge resident interested in participating in this process, feel free to reach out to Carrie at Carrie@mcedd.org for further details.