ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — The state has awarded more than $600,000 in grant funding to expand broadband opportunities, digital skills and workforce development in Anderson County.
State Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) said the county will receive two separate grants as part of $162.7 million in overall funding from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
The $100,000 will promote high-paying jobs and promote broadband opportunities through the Broadband Ready Communities program. According to Ragan, the investments will provide broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 236,000 Tennesseans across 92 counties.
“Broadband access is more important than ever and this funding will go a long way in ensuring all Anderson County residents are fully connected,” Ragan said. “These grants will help expand access and allow Tennesseans to acquire the digital skills necessary to succeed in today’s workforce. I thank all of the parties involved for their hard work in securing and allocating these important investments.”
Local grant recipients include:
- Anderson County: $100,000 to promote high-paying jobs and promote broadband opportunity through the Broadband Ready Communities program
- University of Tennessee: $512,916 to advance digital skills and workforce development by serving part of Anderson County and several other counties through the Digital Skills, Education and Workforce (DSEW) program
TNECD has launched the following four new programs to promote broadband opportunities and high-paying digital jobs:
- Digital Skills, Education and Workforce: supports a variety of training and education programs to advance digital skills and workforce development, creating a way for well-paying digital jobs
- Connected Community Facilities: supports construction and renovation of spaces that offer services for digital advancement in workforce, health care and education
- Broadband Ready Communities: supports community-based digital skills training, public Wi-Fi projects, distribution of free or low-cost devices and marketing for low-cost internet plans
- Tennessee College of Applied Technology Broadband Workforce: helps develop a well-trained and diverse telecommunications workforce that's able to expand and manage broadband infrastructure through a Telecommunications Electronics Technician diploma course
The most recent broadband infrastructure grants from TNECD will provide access to more than 58,200 Tennesseans in 37 counties.
So far, the department has invested more than $715 million to expand the state’s broadband infrastructure, connecting more than 689,000 Tennesseans across 275,000 residential and business locations, according to Ragan.
All grant recipients must complete their projects by Dec. 31, 2026.