SECOM Awarded Grant Funds for Fiber Expansion in Southeast Colorado

Description: SECOM Chief Business Development Officer Jon Saunders meets with Bent County Clerk and Recorder Lynda Moss, Bent County Commissioner Chair Jean Sykes and Commissioner Alan Stump at a recent county meeting in Las Animas. (photo credit, Anne Boswell, SECOM)

SECOM Awarded Grant Funds for Fiber Expansion in Southeast Colorado

By Anne Boswell, SECOM Communications Coordinator

(Las Animas, CO) -- Rural Bent County is sitting pretty to get high-speed fiber internet along Colorado State Highway 194 and east of Las Animas on State Highway 50.

SECOM Business Development Officer Jon Saunders broke the news to Bent County Commissioners stating he’s excited about the economic development possibilities.   The announcement comes as the Southeast Colorado Internet Service Provider was awarded a grant of 8.8 million dollars to expand fiber internet in the county.  SECOM plans to invest an additional 1.4 million dollars.

Saunders says not only will people be able to get high-speed fiber internet, but they’ll be getting an even better and faster service.

“A lot of people are going to get some fiber.   This is fiber, the technology we use is…, and it’s even past gigabit.  You’ve heard about places getting gigabit to the home, this is actually capable of ten gigabits from the home,” Saunders says it’s state-of-the-art.

Bent County Commissioner Jean Sykes was happy to hear of the possibilities for her county. 

“I think part of what we’re finding are a number of people, good, bad or otherwise with covid, found out they could work from home.  And we have several people who have recently moved or during that time, moved to these rural areas and do need that extra speed to work from home and things like that.  I know some of our businesses lately have been asking, what else can we do because they have so much stuff that’s online so that’s great.”

Kim MacDonnell, Bent County Commissioner for District One, commented that the addition of more high-speed internet could make them more competitive to attract economic development opportunities.

“That’s absolutely wonderful those are some of the things we wanted the communities to be able to be, the kinds of place where people can come and actually do what they want to do and it also puts us in the position to really seek out other opportunities for businesses of the like that would be located in a place where your operations are located.”

MacDonnell furthered that it gives Bent County another tool in their economic development toolbox. “I’m really encouraged.”

The project also includes the addition of fiber from Cheraw to the Bent County line.

In addition, SECOM plans to add fiber to areas around Avondale and Boone in Pueblo County with a second grant that was also awarded.  The final agreements will need to be signed before the work can begin. 

SECOM is a SECO News Founding Advertising Contributor! Check out their page here:

seconews.org/SECOM

Related Content:

Southern Colorado Economic Development District Awarded $12 Million Grant for Broadband Infrastructure

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