Tennessee's government is dialing up its commitment to digital inclusion with a hefty $163 million investment, targeting a statewide high-speed internet revolution. Governor Bill Lee and TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter made the announcement Tuesday, citing the aim is to spread broadband access and digital programming into the nooks and crannies of 92 counties, a tech push intended to reach over 236,000 residents, as reported by WBIR.
"Broadband is essential to all Tennesseans, and that's why we are making strategic investments in our state's broadband infrastructure and digital opportunity programs to create a pathway to education, job training and greater opportunity statewide,” Gov. Lee said, in a statement echoed across multiple news outlets including The Chattanoogan, laying out a vision for an interconnected, digitally-enabled future for Tennesseans. To date, under Gov. Lee's watch, the state has poured more than $715 million into knitting together a tapestry of connections linking 689,000 individuals across 275,000 residential and business locales.
The funding is parted into substantial segments, with $97.2 million allocated for Last Mile and Middle Mile infrastructure programs that promise to branch out broadband's reach and $65.5 million carved out for digital opportunity initiatives, as detailed by a TNECD news release. These financial strands weave into the broader blueprint of ensuring every Tennessean can tap into high-speed internet by 2028 tapping into opportunities for tech training, online education, and telehealth advantages.
In a thrust towards elevating digital dexterity and job preparedness TNECD launched four new programs: Digital Skills, Employment and Workforce Development, Connected Community Facilities, Broadband Ready Communities and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Broadband Workforce grants, initiatives that collectively form a scaffold for residents to climb to higher economic and educational grounds enabling residents to not just surf the digital wave, but to ride it into careers that promise solid grounding in an ever-evolving tech landscape. Money talks and this time it's to the tune of nearly $50 million in matching funds pledged by grantees, with project completions aimed for the end of 2026.
Whether it's $27.9 million nurturing digital talents through 47 organizations or $26.5 million in upgrades to community spaces through Connected Community Facilities grants, Tennessee is betting big on bytes as the building blocks of its future prosperity according to The Chattanoogan.
As for the more granular distribution of funds, counties like Blount, Jefferson, Cocke, and Monroe are among those receiving a varied slice of the pie, with figures like $291,729.98 for Blount and a significant $15,192,642.36 for Cocke County making the rounds in the financial breakdown shared by local media outlets such as WBIR.
