Rural Broadband Workforce Growth in Montana
GrantID: 74814
Grant Funding Amount Low: $25,000
Deadline: Ongoing
Grant Amount High: $50,000
Summary
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Grant Overview
Montana's Rural Broadband Workforce Shortages Montana maintains 46 counties classified as frontier, where the ratio of broadband technicians to households falls below 1 per 1,800 residentsthree times the national rural median. Target workforce outcomes center on training pipelines that increase the number of certified fiber splicers and wireless network engineers by 180 positions over two years. These outcomes address Montana's economy, in which agriculture, mining, and tourism together employ 31 percent of the labor force yet depend on connectivity levels that lag 19 percentage points behind the U.S. rural average. The state's 1.1 million residents are spread across 145,000 square miles, producing average drive times to the nearest community college of 78 minutes for residents west of the Continental Divide. Research must document how these distances constrain technician recruitment and retention. Implementation requires university teams to collaborate with the Montana Telecommunications Association and the state's two tribal colleges on curriculum modules covering microwave backhaul and low-earth-orbit integration. Projects should use the Montana Department of Labor's 2023 occupational projections showing a 24 percent projected growth in information-technology support roles through 2030. Faculty must deliver validated training modules and workforce demand forecasts segmented by the seven Montana Association of Counties districts. Montana Frontier County Certification Standards Proposals must differ from those prepared for Idaho or South Dakota by proving capacity to operate across the state's seven American Indian reservations and 17 counties with no hospital-based specialty care. Each application requires a memorandum from at least one incumbent local exchange carrier confirming field-site access for student interns. Funded research will produce quarterly workforce dashboards aligned with Montana Board of Public Education reporting formats.
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