BroadbandMatch — New Broadband Partnering Tool

Message forwarded from Matt Jones, Director, Montana USDA/RD

Dear Broadband Stakeholders:

Today, NTIA at the Department of Commerce launched BroadbandMatch, an online
database-driven tool for facilitating collaboration and productive
partnerships among applicants for Recovery Act broadband initiatives. The
tool is part of a partnership with USDA’s Rural Utilities Service and the
White House Open Government Initiative to bring small and economically
disadvantaged businesses and other nontraditional companies into
partnerships with large enterprises that have resources to create strong,
creative grant proposals to connect the unserved and underserved populations
across the country.

Please see the attached press release for further details, and click the
following link to register and create a profile for your organization today:

http://match.broadbandusa.gov

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or feedback. We
look forward a collaborative, transparent process that builds comprehensive
broadband communities nationwide.

Best,

Ian Martinez
Senior Advisor and Director of Outreach, BTOP Program National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Department of Commerce

***********

COMMERCE DEPARTMENT’S NTIA AND USDA’S RUS ANNOUNCE
ONLINE TOOL FOR PROSPECTIVE BROADBAND STIMULUS
APPLICANTS

“BroadbandMatch” Intended to Help Prospective Applicants for Recovery Act
Funding Find Broadband Project Partners

The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications
and Information Administration (NTIA) and the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service
(RUS) today announced the launch of BroadbandMatch, a new online tool to
facilitate partnerships among prospective applicants to the agencies’ broadband
grant and loan programs. The programs, funded by the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, are intended to expand broadband access and adoption in
America, helping to bridge the digital divide, create jobs, and stimulate long-term
economic growth.

BroadbandMatch – at http://match.broadbandusa.gov – allows potential applicants
to find partners for broadband projects, helping them to combine expertise and
create stronger proposals. For example, a broadband infrastructure provider might
partner with community institutions, like universities, hospitals, or libraries, on a
proposal to bring high-speed Internet service to their facilities. Any company,
nonprofit, state or local government or expert individual interested in applying for
funding under NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) or
RUS’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) can post a profile, including key
information about the contribution they can make to a broadband project, as well
as search for other stakeholders whose skills and resources match their needs.

“In the first funding round, many applicants wanted to form partnerships but
didn’t know how best to locate other organizations with similar aims and
complementary resources,” said NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling.
“BroadbandMatch is a tool to help stakeholders collaborate, which can spur the
highest caliber, most effective proposals for this crucial Recovery Act funding.”
“It’s like a matchmaking service where interested parties can discover each other
to pursue their mutual interests,” said RUS Administrator Jonathan S. Adelstein.

“It will help in locating community partners and establishing new relationships
that will foster better broadband service in areas of the country that really need
it.”
RUS and NTIA plan to announce the rules for the final funding round of the
BTOP and BIP programs in the coming weeks.
BroadbandMatch is a component project in support of the Obama
Administration’s Open Government Initiative, undertaking to bring an innovative,
open approach to the way the government operates. In launching
BroadbandMatch, NTIA and RUS are joining agencies across the government in
retooling their approach to conducting business, to increase transparency, public
participation, and collaboration.

NTIA Media Contact
Jessica Schafer
202-482-5670

USDA Media Contact:
Bartel Kendrick
202-379-8400

(Thanks to Gloria O’Rourke of MEDA http://www.medamembers.org for passing this along.)