U.S. Department of Commerce Invests to Advance Broadband-focused Disaster Resiliency Efforts in Jasper, Texas

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration issued the following news release:

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $600,000 grant to the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, Jasper, Texas, to help complete an engineering plan needed to prepare for the development of rural broadband infrastructure critical. The EDA grant will be matched with $150,000 in local investment.

"The Trump Administration is working diligently to help communities impacted by natural disasters to both recover and build back stronger," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. "This project will help the region to greatly improve broadband communication in the event of future disasters, allowing them to respond and recover more quickly and significantly boost regional efforts to attract and retain employers."

This EDA investment will allow the Deep East Texas Council of Governments to undertake an engineering plan to prepare for the development of rural broadband infrastructure follow Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Completion of this plan will allow the region to develop a network providing redundant, ultra-high speed, ultra-high capacity broadband service.

This project is funded under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (PL 115-123) (https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1892/BILLS-115hr1892enr.pdf) (https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1892/BILLS-115hr1892enr.pdf), in which Congress appropriated to EDA $600 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program (https://www.eda.gov/pdf/about/Economic-Adjustment-Assistance-Program-1-Pager.pdf) funds for disaster relief and recovery as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, wildfires, and other calendar year 2017 natural disasters under the Stafford Act.

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About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)

The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation's regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.