Nearly half a billion dollars worth of federal funding is going to build Kansas' broadband infrastructure.
For Jacquelyne Leffler, the last three years have been a whirlwind for her ranch up in Americus Kansas, near Emporia.
She started directly selling her beef online in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“No one could find beef on the grocery store shelves, and I thought I'm gonna really capitalize on this and I sold to over 1500 people that year and did 170 head of cattle,” said Leffler.
She says sales numbers have stayed at that level since 2020 but notes one thing that hasn’t been able to keep up is her internet service. She does 90% of her sales online as well as track data when farming.
"It's still quicker for us to mail a flash drive to the people that are helping us with our data decisions than it is to upload it and send it that way,” she explained.
Leffler is far from the only rural Kansan who deals with this problem. The state is trying to fix the issue.
“We live in an increasingly technological driven society,” said Broadband Development Director Jade Piros De Carvalho.
Kansas was awarded $451 million of federal money to improve broadband infrastructure in the state back in June. Piros De Carvalho says the broadband office is working on a five year strategic plan on how to bring reliable internet to all Kansans, and this money will help fund a lot of that.
“Internet service providers will be applying for these funds, but also municipalities, nonprofits, co-ops, there are other groups that are called eligible entities that have the ability to apply for these funds if they show that they have a viable project and can get, you know, that technology out to people," Piros De Carvalho explained.
Source: kake.com
Photo Credit: gettyimages-jessicahyde
Categories: Kansas, General