MARCH 20-26, 2023 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 7 by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net The launch of an estimated $260 million, five-year high-speed internet buildout to help connect the service area of White River Valley Electric Cooperative Inc. is expected by late summer or early fall, officials say. The cooperative was awarded nearly $47.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The award was part of $261 million the DED announced in January through the ARPA Broadband Infrastructure Grant Program, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The ARPA funds are expected to create over 55,000 broadband connections in locations of the state that have previously lacked adequate internet access. White River Valley Electric Cooperative plans to conduct seven connection projects in its service territory of Christian, Douglas, Ozark, Stone and Taney counties. The work is through its fiber subsidiary, White River Connect. Beau Jackson, a longtime employee of the cooperative, is White River Connect’s CEO. He said while White River felt good about its grant applications when submitting them for ARPA funding, he didn’t expect such a positive response. “We put in seven applications for seven different areas, and we would have been pleased to get about half of them,” he said. “But getting awarded all seven of them? It proved that we made a case for our area.” State officials agreed when announcing the ARPA grants in a news release. “White River Valley Electric Cooperative did a great job of laying out the why of why this funding was necessary to local communities,” Missouri Department of Economic Development Director of Broadband Development BJ Tanksley said in the release. “There are 400,000 unserved and underserved locations in the state of Missouri. These grants were a down payment for changing broadband access for these Missourians.” White River Connect is in the design and procurement phase of the five-year undertaking, Jackson said. Some of that involves acquiring all the necessary building permits with agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service. The order of where work will progress during the project is also under consideration, but Jackson said the first year’s construction phasing plan will be announced soon. The fiber-optic build is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year, with the first phase of customers being able to access high-speed connections in early 2024. The co-op intends to offer subscribers speeds above 1 gigabit for data uploads and downloads to meet future bandwidth demand. While National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, engineering firm Toth and Associates Inc. and BBC Electrical Services Inc. are among those working on the project with White River Connect, the company handling the fiber installation is yet to be selected. Jackson said that part of the project is currently out for bid. “By the end of April, we’ll know who our general contractor is,” he said. “At least, that’s what we’re planning.” Meeting a need Cassie Cunningham, the cooperative’s manager of communications and member engagement, said a feasibility study and membership survey were part of research that White River Valley conducted over the past two years to determine the need for rural internet. The study evaluated topics such as area terrain, population density and technology choices. Nearly 8,000 members responded to the survey, with 91% indicating interest in the co-op providing internet services to their areas. Only 13% reported having reliable internet with speeds over 25 megabits per second upload and 3 Mbps download. “That’s dial-up, essentially,” Cunningham said, noting there are a lot of pockets in some of White River Valley’s service area with no internet service at all. Reliable internet connectivity is essential for having access to services such as health NEWS Securities and Advisory services offered through Woodbury Financial Services Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. James Financial Partners LLC and Woodbury Financial Services Inc. are not affiliated. Independent Planning As an independent planning firm, not bound by a large corporation’s agenda, we have the flexibility to offer planning solutions that best match your unique needs. Joe Tonyan and Tyler James www.JamesFinancialPartners.com • 417.829.2257 909 E Republic Rd Building F, Suite 200, Springfield, MO 65807 Who should be recognized with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement in Business? Which companies and individuals should be recognized for the impact made on the local economy? PRESENTED BY Nominate at SBJ.net/EIA NOMINATE ECONOMIC IMPACT AWARDS Beau Jackson: The project’s general contractor should be selected by late April. Cassie Cunningham: There are pockets in White River’s coverage area without internet service. White River Connect plans $260M high-speed internet project See WHITE RIVER on page 33 Officials say work to start in the third quarter is expected to take five years $47.4M ARPA funds received by White River Valley Electric Cooperative
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