[rtpnet-tact] E-NC AWARDS NEARLY $6 MILLION IN INCENTIVE GRANTS

[Judy Hallman]

To TACT list:

Reference:
http://dbusinessnews.com/cgi-script/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=triangleheadlines.db&command=viewone&id=484&op=t
I can't find any information at www.e-nc.org. I was hoping to see more
about the awards and how soon we'll be able to submit a revised proposal
for the Help Desk. -- Judy
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E-NC AWARDS NEARLY $6 MILLION IN INCENTIVE GRANTS
08-23-2002

The e-NC Initiative, a statewide effort to connect all North Carolinians
to the Internet and a better future, is awarding a total of $5,792,700
million in private funds to nonprofit and for-profit groups statewide to
encourage them to provide affordable, high-speed Internet access in North
Carolina's 85 rural counties and to develop new and expanded services for
users. These Connectivity Incentives Grants will continue the funding
cycles of both supply- and demand-building projects affecting rural areas.

Currently, private funds support these grants programs and all of e-NC's
efforts. Of the more than 50 organizations supporting e-NC through cash
and in-kind contributions, the largest contributor is MCNC (formerly the
Microelectronics Center of North Carolina). In 1999, this self-supporting
nonprofit organization committed $30 million to e-NC for support of
programs and statewide initiatives.

The authority is holding an additional $2,207,300 in reserve. The funds
were part of the original allocation toward Connectivity Incentives
Grants.

"The Connectivity Incentives Grants represent the largest amount of funds
disbursed by e-NC in a single grants program to date," said Dr. James
Leutze, chairman of the Rural Internet Access Authority, the group leading
the e-NC Initiative. "E-NC has invested heavily in this grants program
because it will play a pivotal role in achieving high-speed connectivity
statewide by December 2003. The grants will help bring access to areas of
the state that need it most, directly answering the legislature's mandate
for the effort. In bringing North Carolina greater connectivity - and
through it better access to agriculture, business, government, health care
and education services - e-NC is helping to improve citizens' quality of
life and economic prospects."

Through the Connectivity Incentive Grants Program, e-NC is awarding 10
grants, which will support 10 programs throughout North Carolina. The
grants range in amount from $1,600 to $2,925,000 and are being awarded to
a combination of public and private entities. E-NC is awarding multiple
grants, striving to affect the widest possible geographic coverage and to
work toward its goal of statewide high-speed connectivity by December
2003. Preference was given to projects where e-NC was not the sole source
of funding.

Proposals were accepted in two major grant categories: supply-building and
demand-building. Supply-building projects are those that help to bring
high-speed Internet access to underserved areas, and include efforts to
build various levels of technology infrastructure in rural areas.
Demand-building projects are those that help to increase the demand for
and use of high-speed access, and include efforts to create applications
of computer and Internet technology for agriculture, business, government,
health, learning and other statewide uses. Examples of demand-building
projects range from the creation of Web sites that automate government
services to the promotion of online training and education programs.