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Redwood Coast Connect presents $1M USDA broadband technical assistance grant to Trinity County for last-mile planning
Summary
Cal Poly Humboldt and Brightscape Networks reviewed a USDA Rural Development cooperative agreement for $1 million over two years to produce community needs assessments, build broadband expansion strategies and prepare grant-ready application packages for eligible communities in Trinity and Humboldt counties.
The Trinity County Board of Supervisors received a presentation Sept. 16 from the Redwood Coast Connect Broadband Consortium on a $1 million USDA Rural Development broadband technical assistance cooperative agreement intended to prepare communities in Trinity and Humboldt counties for future last-mile broadband funding opportunities.
Connie Stewart, executive director of initiatives at Cal Poly Humboldt, said the grant will help “hook up households and businesses” to recent middle-mile infrastructure and make communities “shovel ready” for last-mile funding. She described the agreement as a cooperative arrangement with USDA Rural Development that includes community outreach, planning and grant-application support.
Brightscape Networks representatives Brian Court and Susan Bolton described the work plan: months 1–12 will conduct community needs assessments; months 1–16 will develop community-specific broadband expansion strategies; and months 16–24 will produce grant application support packages, including budget templates and technical materials.
The project funds a full-time community connectivity coordinator under Cal Poly Humboldt for two years, outreach staff to support surveys, and on-the-ground mapping and facility assessments. Stewart and Brightscape staff said not every community qualified under USDA eligibility rules; the consortium included all eligible Trinity County communities in its plan and will work with local “broadband champions” and county staff to collect detailed household-level connection data.
Speakers stressed the grant is for planning and technical assistance, not direct construction: “This is not specifically to provide broadband,” Court said. The consortium’s stated objective is to provide “actionable plans with budgets and all the supporting necessary information so that as funding opportunities come along, you'll be well suited up to apply.”
County staff and supervisors asked about the coordinator’s scope and duration; Brightscape confirmed the coordinator is a full-time, two-year role and that survey support staff will be hired for shorter terms to help collect data. The consortium also said the cooperative agreement will bring USDA representatives into community meetings as part of outreach.
No formal board action was required; the item was presented for awareness as work begins under the USDA cooperative agreement.
