Vermont Awards $20.2M ARPA Funds To Northwest Fiberworx

Jun 25, 2024 – The Vermont Community Broadband Board granted a $20.2 Million internet construction grant to Communications Union District Northwest Fiberworx on Tuesday. 

This grant will enable Northwest Fiberworx to begin phase one of its construction plan. The project will target regions with the least connections in Vermont, aiming to connect more than 3,800 unserved and underserved addresses.

VCBB Deputy Director Rob Fish thanked Northwest Fiberworx and their partner Great Works Internet Vermont for finding “a way to bring service where others would not.”

This grant will bring fiber internet to 22 towns in northwest Vermont. VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist said that “thousands of their residents do not currently have the connection required to take advantage of everything available online.”

In total, the VCBB has allocated over $206 million for broadband expansion across the state. Northwest Fiberworx has started construction or is in the process of connecting customers in nine of the state’s ten CUDs.

The VCBB awarded the funding from the Broadband Construction Program, which is supported by federal American Rescue Plan funds.