McLean County Farm Bureau

State gets $25 million for rural broadband expansion

More than 1,100 residences, businesses and farms in Jackson and Randolph counties will have access to high-speed internet thanks to a USDA loan. The $25.2 million loan to the Egyptian Telephone Cooperative Association is through Rural Development’s ReConnect Program. Twenty states will see loan funding through this round of the program, with project timelines not yet announced, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday. READ MORE