Thirty grants of up to $75,000 each are available to help rural Arkansas communities apply for federal grants and loans to make broadband accessible to their residents.

The “Rural Broadband I.D. Expenses Trust Fund Grant,” sponsored by state Sen. Missy Irvin, is funded by the state’s Restricted Reserve Fund and federal coronavirus aid allocated by the Arkansas Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Steering Committee created by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

The $2 million broadband program is managed by the Institute for Digital Health & Innovation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Visit https://idhi.uams.edu/rural-broadband-grantto apply and for more information about the program.

Irvin, from Mountain View, has said COVID-19 highlighted the critical need for broadband in rural Arkansas.

“We are grateful to Senator Irvin for her leadership on this issue,” said Joseph Sanford, M.D., interim director of the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. “Thanks to her efforts and the support of the governor and the Legislature, we now have an exciting program that can help grow internet access in rural Arkansas. As COVID-19 changes the ways in which we work and learn remotely, high-quality data infrastructure is increasingly vital to our economy, access to health care, and overall quality of life.”

The grants are available to help cities, incorporated towns, counties and unincorporated communities conduct broadband due-diligence business studies. The studies are required in federal grant and loan applications for broadband infrastructure. Communities can use their broadband due-diligence business studies to apply for funding from:

The Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural eConnectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Bill; and
Other federal grants or loans for broadband development programs.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise including its hospital, regional clinics and clinics it operates or staffs in cooperation with other providers. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. U.S. News & World Report named UAMS Medical Center the state’s Best Hospital; ranked its ear, nose and throat program among the top 50 nationwide; and named six areas as high performing — cancer, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery.UAMS has 2,727 students, 870 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health.

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