The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development recently awarded $200,000 in state funds to the Greene County Industrial Development Corp.
The funds will be used to hire West Virginia-based ClearFiber to expand broadband access through Greene and Washington Counties and part of Fayette County.
Construction will begin in Mt. Morris in the next few months before moving north to Waynesburg to Washington and then expanding east to the borough of California. When the work is completed, more than 2,000 homes will have broadband access.
“This announcement has been years in the making, and with the current pandemic, it’s shown that affordable, broadband access is a vital necessity for our hospitals, our businesses, and our schools,” Rep. Pam Snyder (D-Greene/Fayette/Washington) said. “This public/private partnership will place 65 miles of high-speed fiber optic technology throughout our district, bringing much-needed service to residents who either had no access at all or had unreliable broadband access. This is just the beginning, as ClearFiber anticipates expanding its service. It also gives consumers an additional choice in broadband service providers.”
Nonprofit group KINBER will work with ClearFiber to bring the fiber infrastructure to the area through a partnership with Waynesburg University.
KINBER helps communities gain access to reliable, high-speed internet services.