I am pleased to return to Tazewell County today to announce another major success in our effort to expand Southwest Virginia's infrastructure for high speed Internet access. At my urging, and effective today, the Rural Utilities Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture is awarding a grant in the amount of $855,000 to Tazewell County to provide high speed wireless Internet service to 100 residents and businesses in the community of Tannersville.
For the last few years, I have hosted a series of workshops to inform local governments and Internet Service Providers of the federal funding programs available for the construction of broadband networks. As a result of these workshops, communities throughout the Ninth District have been successful in seeking highly competitive federal grant funds to build high-speed networks which are providing service to areas that traditional telecommunications providers have ignored.
This year, I set a goal in my office that the Ninth Congressional District would have more grant applications submitted to USDA than any other Congressional District in the Nation. Tazewell County joined my challenge, and I am pleased to report that the Ninth Congressional District is receiving more broadband grants than any other Congressional district in the Nation. In fact the number of grants we are receiving this year exceeds the number of grants being provided in any state except Virginia.
Residents and businesses in the Tannersville community of Tazewell County currently have no access to high speed broadband services. Rather, local residents and businesses are reliant on much slower methods of accessing the Internet to conduct business or for personal use.
With the federal funding I am announcing today, residents and businesses in the Tannersville community will gain access to high speed Internet service wirelessly. In addition, a space in the Tannersville Community Association building will be renovated to serve as a Community Access Center. To complete the project, Tazewell County is providing a local match of $130,000.
The Center will include 10 new computer workstations outfitted with the latest computer equipment. The Community Access Center will provide the high speed Internet services to residents at convenient times. Classes and seminars will also be offered to local residents to heighten community awareness of the benefits of the new broadband technology.
The wireless Internet service that will be constructed to serve Tannersville will originate with a connection to the region's fiber optic network which has a point of presence at the Tazewell County Data Center. From the Data Center, a wireless signal will be beamed to a tower near Tannersville. A wireless signal will then beam from the tower to the Tannersville Community Association building and to residents who have acquired the appropriate high-speed wireless equipment.
In addition to the 100 residents of Tannersville that will have the capability of accessing the signal, the wireless system will provide service to the Tannersville Rescue Squad, the Tannersville Volunteer Fire Department, and the Tannersville Community Association building.
More than ten years ago, I encouraged local governments throughout the Ninth District to find a means of deploying broadband networks so that affordable high-speed Internet access would be available to businesses and residents throughout our region. My goal in making this recommendation was to set our region apart in comparison to other rural areas of the nation, to make us more attractive than the typical rural region to industries looking to expand their operations into new locations, and to create technology-based jobs for Southwest Virginians.
Today, I am pleased to note that many of the communities in our region are making great strides in the deployment of broadband networks, and the announcement I am making today is a shining example of the outstanding work that is being done in many of our localities.
Just as first canals, then railroads and then highways were the major arteries of commerce in earlier eras, in the 21st Century, access to broadband will be a defining feature of economic success for rural communities. Step by positive step our expanding broadband infrastructure is assuring that Southwest Virginia's communities will be at the center of economic opportunity.
The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors is to be commended for its leadership and foresight in bringing this cutting-edge technology to Tannersville. I would like to recognize Jim Spencer, County Administrator, and Sam Wolford, Director of Public Safety, for their efforts to bring this service to Tazewell County.
I would like to thank the staff of the Rural Utilities Service who have worked with Tazewell County officials and my office on the processing of the funding application.
Finally, I would like to recognize Laura Lee my Deputy Chief of Staff for the work she has performed for this project. I place a high priority in my office in obtaining successes much like the one we celebrate today, and Laura's work is vital to our efforts to deploy new broadband technology throughout Southwest Virginia.
The project which is receiving funding is an example of what can be achieved when government officials at the local and federal levels work together and cooperate in aid of a common purpose. For that cooperation and successful work in providing high-speed Internet service for the Tannersville community, I want to commend all here and offer special congratulations to the residents who will be receiving this service.