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Community Foundation reports large endowment balance; Mainstream Fiber cites customer growth and potential BEAD awards
Summary
The Harrison County Community Foundation reported a $205.7 million ending balance and $46.5 million spendable amount; Mainstream Fiber told commissioners its customer base grew to 5,200 and that preliminary BEAD application awards could enable significant broadband expansion.
Representatives from the Harrison County Community Foundation and Mainstream Fiber Networks briefed the commissioners on Nov. 17 on grant and broadband developments.
Derrick Grigsby of the Harrison County Community Foundation reported that the Community Fund received $931,680 in casino transfers applied toward a 2025 Community Fund grant request of $5.8 million. He said the fund posted an approximate quarterly performance of 5.7% and a year-to-date return of 12.87%, with an ending balance of $205,708,110.08 as of Sept. 30, 2025, and a spendable amount of $46,520,707.88.
Julie Moorman introduced the presentation and credited the foundation’s staff and funding flows for the grant pipeline. The minutes do not include further detail on grant recipients, the timeline for awards, or how the Community Fund plans to deploy its spendable balance.
Zach Stephens with Mainstream Fiber reported that customers increased from about 4,200 in 2023 to 5,200 as of last month (a growth of roughly 682 customers this year). He attributed growth to the sales and customer-support teams, including a dedicated multi-dwelling-unit representative and a help desk. Stephens also announced that preliminary awards from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program may support significant expansion in Harrison County; the minutes record this as a potential funding source but do not specify award amounts or project schedules.
The updates were presented as informational. The commissioners did not record votes connected to the presentations.
