The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last month the availability of more than $11 million in grants to support rural broadband through its Community Connect grant program, which seeks to help fund broadband deployment into rural communities where it is not yet economically viable for private sector providers to deliver service. For FY 2016, the minimum grant amount is $100,000, while the maximum award is $3 million. Additional information can be found here. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has released new materials to help communities realize the importance of broadband and develop roadmaps for its broader implementation.