The Joint Development Authority of Franklin, Hart, and Stephens counties will get a loan/grant award for just over a million dollars to help continue work on bringing broadband to the region.
On Tuesday, Gov. Nathan Deal and members of the OneGeorgia Authority Board announced the approval of $9 million in grants and loans to communities across the state from the OneGeorgia Authority's portfolio of financing programs.
The Joint Develop Authority received a $150,000 loan equity award and a $798,000 grant for a total of $1.3 million.
"We need a network in our region. We can't afford to do the whole project at one time. So, this money will allow us to build a backbone from Hartwell to Lavonia to Toccoa to Hollywood, Ga.," said Lyn Brumby, director of the Franklin County Industrial Building Authority.
Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin said this is great news for the region. “The next step is to get an RFP (request for proposals) out on the street, inviting incumbent providers to be a partner with us,” said Martin. “This network that we are proposing is actually a backbone. It is the middleman. We will need someone to help us operate it and bring it directly to the specific customers.” Martin went on to say, “We hopefully will know, by May 1, who that partner will be and we will have a timeline at that point as to how quickly they can move forward. But it is conceivable that this Fall or early Winter, in the calendar year 2012, we could have additional new capacity for broadband connectivity in our six counties.”
For more on the store follow these links:
http://www.wnegradio.com/news.php and http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/07/northeast-georgia-counties-to-receive-help-in-to/
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