Stearns County

2024 Grants:

• County: Stearns
  Runestone Telecom Association Crow Lake
  Grant: $1,538,614
  Local Match: $512,875
  Total Budget: $2,051,489
  This Low Density Runestone Telecom Association Crow Lake project will be a Last Mile project within Crow Lake Township in rural western Stearns County, improving the available broadband service speeds from under 25 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps, with room for future bandwidth needs for schools, farms, businesses, anchor institutions, and residents. This project will serve 153 locations, including 114 unserved and 39 served locations. Crow Lake Township is a funding partner with a contribution of $18,000.
• County: Stearns
  Arvig Stearns County Wakefield & Luxemburg Area
  Grant: $708,790
  Local Match: $866,299
  Total Budget: $1,575,089
  The Arvig Stearns County Wakefield & Luxemburg Area project will serve locations in Stearns County around the Wakefield and Luxemburg area, bringing fiber-to-the-home up to 10 Gbps download speeds and 1 Gbps upload, and to 10 Gbps for businesses. This project will bring reliable, fast fiber internet to this area for the first time, opening opportunities for 113 locations, including 46 unserved and 67 underserved locations. Stearns County is contributing $661,537 towards this project.
• County: Stearns
  Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Paynesville Township
  Grant: $542,077
  Local Match: $662,538
  Total Budget: $1,204,615
  The Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Paynesville Township project will provide fiber-to-the premise broadband access to rural sites in Paynesville Township in Stearns County, Minnesota. This project will improve unserved/underserved levels of service up to 1 gigabit per second download and upload speeds resulting in more efficient and effective e-learning, telemedicine options and enhanced precision agriculture tools to 108 locations, including 102 unserved and 6 underserved addresses. Stearns County and Paynesville Township have pledged $357,845 towards this project.
• County: Stearns
  AMTA – Stearns Phase 2
  Grant: $7,123,175
  Local Match: $13,287,069
  Total Budget: $20,410,244
  Albany will bring fiber to 1,395 locations. Albany’s Phase 2 project is east of its Stearns County Phase 1, currently under construction around the Holdingford area of Central Stearns County. In collaborating with Stearns County, Albany added a small area south of Interstate 94 south of Avon, as well as the rural area south of St. Joseph. Stearns County is a funding partner on this project, contributing $2.85M.
• County: Stearns
  Arvig
  Arvig – Stearns Cty
  Grant: $910,537
  Local Match: $303,512
  Total Budget: $1,214,049
  This Border-to-Border project will extend broadband services to 55 locations in portions of Elrosa, Lake Henry, and Roscoe in Stearns County. All locations would be able to receive up to 10 Gbps download speeds and 1 Gbps upload (even to 10 Gbps for businesses). $218,528.81 of the project cost will be covered by Stearns County. Farms within the project area will have the opportunity for farmers to incorporate more technology to their farming efforts such as using smart irrigation systems and self-driving machinery.

2023 – Runestone Telephone Assoc. – Stearns County West Phase 2 – GRANT $4,800,000

2022 – Albany Mutual Telephone, $746,964.00

2022 – Melrose Telephone Co. dba Arvig, $4,974,570.00 (Learn more)

ReConnect funding through Upsala Cooperative Telephone Association in Morrison, Stearns and Todd counties.

MN State Grant awarded in 2021: Sytek Communications – Morrison/Todd/Stearns County FTTP Project – GRANT $1,048,668 This last mile project will bring service to 130 locations in Southwest Morrison, Southeastern Todd and Northeastern Stearns counties.

2017 – Albany Mutual Telephone Association – Two Rivers Area – GRANT $616,743

2016 – ALBANY MUTUAL TELEPHONE ASSOCIATION BIG WATAB LAKE – GRANT: $726,185

Arvig (Melrose Telephone Company) – Eden Valley & Melrose Area Project – GRANT $393,890