This grant provided funding to The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Foundation (NCSSM) to fund last-mile broadband infrastructure for its Morganton campus. The Morganton campus, which opened in 2022, served 300 additional NCSSM students by reaching full enrollment and anticipated employing approximately 100 faculty and staff. The school was expected to have a $12 million annual economic impact on the surrounding community. The requested broadband infrastructure served the NCSSM campus and was available to extend to other tenants, public and private, within the adjacent planned Broughton District economic development zone. The infrastructure was also strategically located to maximize connectivity for Western Piedmont Community College and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. The State of North Carolina provided $73 million for the new NCSSM campus, but that funding did not cover the cost of this broadband infrastructure.
