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In July, Ashtabula County Farm Bureau was named a recipient of $23,200 in grants for a rural connectivity project through BroadbandOhio.

“Rural Connections is a project vision that the Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull County Farm Bureaus have to help bridge the rural divide caused by a few factors including lack of broadband access, lack of affordable options, and lack of digital skills in our community,” said Mandy Orahood, Ohio Farm Bureau organization director for Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull County Farm Bureaus. “As a grassroots organization that represents the state’s largest industry, and the backbone of America – agriculture, we have heard our members loud and clear from right here in our county to all over the United States. That is why broadband has been a priority issue of the Farm Bureau over the last few years.”

The Rural Connections project includes hiring a rural & ag technology consultant, creating an easy-to-use resource for the community to enhance digital skills, and planning and executing programming that addresses digital skills, improves online security, and introduces them to all of the resources available to improve their farms, lives and communities, Orahood said.

BroadbandOhio awarded a total of $654,590 through the state’s Digital Inclusion Pilot Project Grant to help nine community-based, nonprofit organizations address barriers in digital access. BroadbandOhio is a division of the Ohio Department of Development.