Nuvera Awarded DEED Grant to Expand Fiber Broadband into Rural Goodhue County

NEW ULM, March 7, 2024 – Nuvera Communications, Inc., is pleased to announce the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded the company a $1,884,429 grant through the Office of Broadband to bring fiber broadband to unserved and underserved areas in Goodhue County.

“As southern Minnesota’s leading fiber provider, we’ve successfully built the largest infrastructure project in company history in just two years. Nuvera’s fiber infrastructure is just as critical to our communities as roads and bridges reaching nearly every community we serve and connecting families and businesses to what’s important to them,” said Glenn Zerbe, CEO of Nuvera. “Nuvera’s continued fiber infrastructure expansion gets new momentum in rural Goodhue as we expand service with this grantfrom DEED and in partnership with Goodhue County.”

The DEED grant funds will go towards the total project cost of $2,512,572 and the remainder of the funding will come from a local match provided by Nuvera and Goodhue County. The project will build fiber service west of White Rock and reach areas of Bell Creek, Cannon Falls, Leon, and Vasa Township. There are 86 households, 41 farms,and 9 businesses in the buildout area. 

“Fiber broadband is critical infrastructure that connects people in Goodhue County to health care, education, and economic opportunity,” said Scott Arneson, Goodhue County Administrator. “We’re excited to continue partnering with Nuvera to expand fiber service in the county. This grant will turn more unserved and underserved customers into customers who have some of the best Gig speed fiber connections in the state.”

The grant funds come from DEED’s Low Population Density Program which provides grants to companies building broadband in areas of the state with low population and high broadband deployment costs. 

“We’re investing in broadband infrastructure statewide to help thousands of Minnesotans connect to jobs, education, healthcare, and their communities,” said Governor Tim Walz. “Helping more Minnesotans get online at high speeds is one of the ways we’re making Minnesota the best state for families, workers, and businesses.”

“As the Office of Broadband Development enters its 10th year, I’m inspired by – and grateful for – our ongoing partnership with broadband providers as we work together to deploy reliable, high-speed broadband to the Minnesotans who need it,” said Bree MakiExecutive Director, DEED Office of Broadband Development Executive Director.

To learn more, visit Nuvera’s website.

Nuvera Media Contact
Joanna Hjelmeland
612-272-0177

About Nuvera

Nuvera Communications is a leading regional service provider headquartered in 
New Ulm, Minnesota. Nuvera’s state-the-art fiber network provides reliable and affordable residential internet service through both fiber-to-the neighborhood and newly expanding Gig-speed fiber-to-the-home services. Nuvera also provides business services including fiber internet, voice, hosting and managed services. Nuvera is a Fiber Minnesota partner which cooperatively enables connectivity for multi-location business customer locations, wireless towers and network connectively to major internet connection transport points. Nuvera Communications, Inc., is a publically held corporation. For more information about Nuvera or to purchase stock, visit http://www.nuvera.net/investors

Read the announcement from the state of Minnesota.