[1st-mile-nm] Fwd: Community Connect Grants

Fri Oct 25 14:17:22 PDT 2013

The application was accompanied by an excellent letter of support signed by
all members of the Delegation.
Les Matthews

From:  Tom Johnson <tom at jtjohnson.com>
Date:  Friday, October 25, 2013 3:04 PM
To:  "Brunner, Terry - RD, Albuquerque, NM" <Terry.Brunner at nm.usda.gov>
Cc:  "rl at 1st-mile.com" <rl at 1st-mile.com>, 1st mile nm
<1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org>
Subject:  Re: [1st-mile-nm] Fwd: Community Connect Grants

So was there/is there pre-contact and eventual support from our
congressional delegation?
-tom johnson

On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 2:33 PM, Brunner, Terry - RD, Albuquerque, NM
<Terry.Brunner at nm.usda.gov> wrote:
> I too am disappointed that this particular application wasn't funded.  If it
> helps to know, this program, Community Connects, and the Distance Learning and
> Telemedicine program are heavily oversubscribed.  In other words, we receive
> far more applications than we are able to fund.  In the case of Community
> Connects, I believe we had more than $100 million in requests, but were
> allocated approximately $20 million in funding for the program.
> 
> That doesn't make things better in Ramah, but we will continue to try our best
> to help that community through other sources.
> 
> 
> Terry Brunner
> State Director
> USDA Rural Development-New Mexico
> 6200 Jefferson, NE  Room 255
> Albuquerque, NM  87109
> Office:  (505) 761-4950 <tel:%28505%29%20761-4950>
> Fax:  (505) 761-4976 <tel:%28505%29%20761-4976>
> Follow me on Twitter @Terrybrunner
>  www.rurdev.usda.gov <http://www.rurdev.usda.gov>  | "Committed to the future
> of rural communities"
> 
> Stay Connected with USDA:
> 
> USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org
> [mailto:1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org] On Behalf Of Richard Lowenberg
> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 2:12 PM
> To: 1st mile nm
> Subject: [1st-mile-nm] Fwd: Community Connect Grants
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Community Connect Grants
> Date: 25.10.2013 10:13
>  From: Les Matthews <les at mesacapitalpartners.us>
> 
> As you are aware the USDA/RUS announced yesterday $20.3M in Community
> Connect Grant Awards for 2013 to 14 recipients. Once again New Mexico,
> despite having one of the poorest rankings in rural broadband
> penetration in the nation was left out. The last time New Mexico
> received one of these awards was in 2009. Since that time at least 6
> applications have been denied.
> This years snub was especially painful. It was for the Pine Hill-Ramah
> Navajo areas. The application covered 1,700 residents that have NO
> access to broadband. The only internet available to this community is
> satellite internet, which doesn't meet the USDA/RUS definition of
> broadband, and costs $80.00/mo. This community, according to the 2010
> census is the poorest community in the state. It has 70% unemployment.
> This grant would have been a lifeline to them. I would have created
> jobs, and online educational and employment opportunities.
> The community contracted out the engineering and grant writing of this
> grant to ACRS in Oklahoma City. ACRS's clients over the past 10 years
> have been awarded over 50% of all Community Connect Grants, so a weak
> grant application wasn't one of the problems here. Even a commitment of
> matching funds in cash was provided ($180,000). The application was
> accompanied by letters of support from the entire New Mexico
> Congressional Delegation, The Ramah Navajo Tribal Council, Several
> tribal/community leaders, over 200 residents, and NMDOiT.
> This year, due to the short timeline for grant submissions after the
> posting of the NOFA, a smaller number of applications was received by
> the USDA/RUS for these grants. The USDA dispatched their local GFR's to
> the field to confirm broadband availability for about half of the
> applications. This application didn't even make that cut. Why is that
> New Mexico keeps being ignored by the USDA/RUS for these important
> grants?
> 
> Les Matthews
> 505 690 0207
> 
> --
> ----------------------------------------
> Richard Lowenberg, Executive Dir.
> 1st-Mile Institute, 505-603-5200
> P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
> www.1st-mile.org <http://www.1st-mile.org>   rl at 1st-mile.org
> ----------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> 1st-mile-nm mailing list
> 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for
> the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the
> use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and
> subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have
> received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email
> immediately.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 1st-mile-nm mailing list
> 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm

-- 
==========================================
J. T. Johnson
Institute for Analytic Journalism   --   Santa Fe, NM USA
<http://www.analyticjournalism.com/>
505.577.6482(c)                                    505.473.9646(h)
Twitter: jtjohnson
slideshare.net/jtjohnson/presentations
<http://slideshare.net/jtjohnson/presentations>
http://www.jtjohnson.com <http://www.jtjohnson.com/>
tom at jtjohnson.com
==========================================
_______________________________________________ 1st-mile-nm mailing list
1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/1st-mile-nm/attachments/20131025/6310f4ac/attachment.html>