Community connect grant

The Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service awarded West Kentucky Rural Telephone Cooperative Corp Inc. $1,301,696 under the Community Connect Grant Program (CFDA 10.863) on September 16, 2025. The grant funds deployment of broadband transmission service in rural communities where such service does not currently exist, with emphasis on connecting critical community facilities. The recipient, doing business as West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, is a not-for-profit cooperative registered in SAM.gov since 2009 and specializing in rural telecommunications infrastructure. Performance occurs in Mayfield, Kentucky 42066, with a period of performance through September 16, 2027. The program awards grants competitively to eligible applicants—including incorporated organizations, Indian tribes, state or local units of government, and cooperatives or private corporations on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis—who demonstrate capacity to own, operate, and maintain broadband facilities and comply with applicable federal statutes and regulations. Applicants generally have three years to obligate funds, with extensions available upon request.