Today at the Minnesota Department of Employment of and Economic Development (DEED) we're celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Office of Broadband Development (OBD) and the ten grant rounds that followed. Since OBD's establishment in 2014, we have been working to provide border-to-border, reliable high-speed internet access for all Minnesotans by providing resources and grants through various successful partnerships and collaborations.

Since its creation in 2014, OBD's flagship Border-to-Border Grant Program, and our Low Population Density Grant Program and Line Extension program have awarded nearly $350 million in grants to expand service to more than 112,000 homes businesses statewide. These programs provide financial resources that encourage new and existing providers to invest in building broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas of the state. Our most recent grant round – announced last week – provided $53 million to 24 projects to connect 8,900 Minnesotans to broadband.

The last year has seen particularly impressive progress toward our goal of connecting every Minnesotan to the high-speed broadband they deserve. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced Minnesota's Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) allocation to be more than $650 million to expand broadband to the most unserved and underserved Minnesotans. We also finalized the state's draft Digital Opportunity Plan, detailing how Minnesota proposes to reduce gaps in broadband access, digital technology ownership and digital skills using an upcoming grant from the federal government.

At the same time, state partnerships continued growing. The Minnesota Legislature approved an additional $50 million each year for broadband infrastructure for FY 2024-25, increased the cap on individual border-to-border grants to $10 million, and made the Lower Population Density Program permanent. To help us invest these resources where they're needed most, the OBD office grew from seven staff to twelve.

Other notable OBD programs and partnerships include:

• The Line Extension Program: Added to OBD's portfolio in 2022 to award grants to extend existing broadband infrastructure to unserved locations, this has so far made awards that will connect 840 customers to broadband through partnerships with 20 broadband providers.
• The Telecommuter Forward! Community Certification Program: Launched in 2019, this certification has been awarded to 47 communities that committed to supporting and promoting telecommuting.
• The K-12 Connect Forward Initiative: Launched in 2016, this initiative partners multiple innovative Minnesota organizations, agencies and associations that work to ensure that all students and teachers in Minnesota have access to scalable infrastructure, high-speed affordable bandwidth and ubiquitous access for distance learning.
• The Governor's Task Force on Broadband: The goal of the task force is to advise the executive and legislative branches on broadband policy, and how we can achieve the set goals and continue to close the digital inclusion gap.

OBD couldn't have done this significant work without ten years' worth of partnerships with Minnesota's Internet Service Providers, digital equity advocates, local governments, non-profits, past and present Governor's Task Force on Broadband members, and, of course, past and present Office of Broadband Development employees. Access to broadband is better than ever in Minnesota because of these collaborations, and we are excited for what the next ten years have in store.