NRTC Member Awarded $47 Million in Missouri ARPA Announcement

White River Valley Electric Cooperative based in Branson, MO, will receive the largest share of $261 million in grants for broadband construction the state of Missouri announced earlier this week. WRVEC was awarded $47 million to fund seven construction projects through the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Program, a part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

NRTC assisted WRVEC to complete seven successful funding applications. The cooperative will eventually connect 15,600 households and 2,150 businesses, currently receiving service below 25 Mbps upstream and 3 Mbps downstream, to fast fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks.

Said Teresa Ferguson, NRTC’s senior director, Broadband Infrastructure Funding, WRVEC and NRTC were an effective collaboration. “It is truly a partnership with our member to develop the technical, managerial and financial evidence that [WRVEC] will perform and use those dollars wisely,” she said.

The application process was within a very short, 45-day filing window. The two organizations started with the information in WRVEC’s NRTC-conducted feasibility study. Then added the fiber networks’ engineering designs, GIS mapping of the eligible project areas and other key elements.

The Missouri application process used a point system to assess the many applications. Ferguson gave high praise to WRVEC for raising the point total with support and pledges of matching funds from county governments in the region. WRVEC is planning to build out to five counties in South Central Missouri – Christian, Douglas, Ozark, Stone and Taney.

“It was just the cherry on top,” she said. “Those points put their application score over the top … This was a winning combination of support from the [WRVEC] board, enthusiasm from leadership and an excellent grant writing team.”

Overall, NRTC members will collect nearly 60 percent of the total grants announced this week. The complete list of Missouri NRTC members to win ARPA funding includes: