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Regional planning commission honors Berrien County broadband project with Graham Woodhouse award
Summary
The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission presented Berrien County’s broadband partnership with the 2025 Graham Woodhouse Intergovernmental Effort Award, citing county mapping, a $56.4 million ROBIN application, and plans to serve thousands of previously unserved or underserved households.
The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission presented the Berrien County Broadband Project with the 2025 Graham Woodhouse Intergovernmental Effort Award, citing the partnership’s mapping work, multi-jurisdiction cooperation and a successful $56.4 million ROBIN grant application that underpins county fiber expansion.
John Egelhaaf, SWMPC executive director, praised the partnership’s mapping and outreach work and highlighted the scale of the effort: he noted roughly “5,700-plus unserved households” would be served along with about 3,500 underserved households, which together are described in meeting materials as enabling broadband access for more than 9,000 homes.
The award announcement describes a partnership spanning local governments, non‑profits and private providers and credits the county and contractors for work that began in 2023 and is slated for completion in the second quarter of 2026. The materials distributed to the task force say the combined funding strategy included ROBIN funds with local support and ARPA dollars for construction.
SWMPC provided a press contact for further information and the task force noted the award in the meeting minutes as formal recognition of intergovernmental cooperation that supported the broadband build-out.
