(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A has awarded a co-op in the southeast corner of Minnesota a five-point-six MILLION dollar grant to extend broadband access to farms and businesses in two counties in northeast Iowa. The project in Allamakee and Winneshiek Counties and a neighboring county in Minnesota will connect nearly a thousand people, 42 business and 122 farms to high-speed internet. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says applicants for this round of the agency’s “ReConnect” grants had to show they’ll meet certain thresholds.

“So that the download and upload speeds are significantly greater and there’s capacity to increase them even more,” Vilsack says.

The grant money comes from the infrastructure bill congress and the president approved last year. In this latest round of funding, a total of 502-million dollars in grants are going to projects in Iowa and 19 other states.