Strengthening capacity in underserved rural areas: USDA-RD Oregon’s approach for broadband deployment

The Reconnect Program

While an array of federal programs exists that can be used by local governments to support infrastructure development, rural providers and communities often lack the staffing and access to expertise to meet their technical and administrative demands. Programs that support broadband expansion, for example, generally require land use planning, network design and engineering, environmental impact studies, and more. The result is that rural communities are often crowded out when competing against larger jurisdictions, unless programs use rural-only set-asides or tailored scoring.

The ReConnect Program helps address these challenges by offering grants, loans, and loan-grant combinations specifically to rural and tribal areas. Since its launch in 2018, ReConnect has invested over $5.8 billion nationwide and supported service expansion to more than 570,000 rural households.

The IIJA’s investment not only enabled additional rounds of ReConnect, it also sought to expand the program’s accessibility by establishing the Broadband Technical Assistance Program. However, while this program provides assistance for pre-development and readiness, it also requires its own, separate application—which can result in needing to bring on outside expertise—and organizations have to identify and procure the experts they need to address technical gaps.

USDA-RD OR: Integrating capacity-strengthening into technical assistance

Oregon USDA RD office recognized that an injection of expert assistance through the BTA program might increase the odds of success for a specific ReConnect application, and was also interested in helping increase the capability of local ISPs and partners to access investment for their broadband needs, no matter its provenance. Thus, rather than following the typical implementation of the BTA program, it pursued an innovative approach to combine that targeted technical assistance with service meant to build the ongoing capacity of a prospective applicant.⁴

This model, developed through a $500,000 cooperative agreement with Rural Prosperity Partners (RPP), provides prospective rural applicants with a modular curriculum, one-on-one assistance including technical support, and practical resources to navigate complex public funding requirements, while also helping subsidize the high cost of preparing a competitive ReConnect application.⁵ By integrating these approaches, the program seeks to help participants succeed in ReConnect while also building the foundational knowledge and readiness to compete for and manage other opportunities for broadband expansion.

One of RPP’s key objectives was to build a replicable, scalable model that other USDA offices or states could adopt. At its core, the approach envisions structuring a hub that prioritizes underserved rural and tribal communities and provides a single-entry point for applicants. Anchored by an in-state intermediary with deep rural relationships and familiarity with federal and state funding processes, the hub would conduct outreach, prescreen applicants, and move potential applicants through a staged readiness pathway before transitioning them into targeted one-on-one assistance to address application bottlenecks.

RPP served as a centralized, trusted source of both individual technical assistance and structured capacity-building training, ensuring that communities across Oregon had access to the same information, tools, and structured application support. To address the most technical elements of ReConnect submissions, RPP partnered with JSI, a broadband consulting firm, to provide guidance on requirements such as GIS mapping and service-area documentation, pairing RPP’s locally grounded assistance with JSI’s specialized technical expertise.

Implementation of the pilot program

RPP created Broadband 101, a structured training course that guides applicants through major federal broadband programs, funding requirements, and project planning essentials. The idea was to create a scalable model to efficiently help providers reach a baseline readiness level. Overall, the multi-module course covers:

• Core broadband fundamentals. 
• Overview of major federal and state broadband funding programs. 
• Navigation of key grant application platforms. 
• Early project scoping and readiness for Rapid Design Studies. 
• Grant readiness assessment. 
• Community engagement and stakeholder coordination. 

The first cohort of Broadband 101 participants included a mix of county governments and small-to-midsize internet service providers (ISPs) serving rural Oregon communities. Most participants had limited prior experience navigating federal broadband programs, or, in several cases, had previously pursued ReConnect funding without success. They also have small staff teams. Survey responses suggest participants entered the course seeking baseline clarity on grant requirements, terminology, documentation, and project scoping, rather than refinement of already-developed proposals.

In their surveys, participants praised Broadband 101 for helping demystify what goes into a competitive federal or state application, particularly the upfront scoping, mapping, documentation, data organization, and internal coordination needed before submission. Key progress points included:

1. Greater clarity and confidence around federal broadband funding expectations. 
2. Improved organizational readiness and internal capacity. 
3. Stronger ability to pursue future funding opportunities. 

Participants noted that while the pre-development assistance was especially helpful, they also needed next-stage assistance, including federal grant management, compliance, budgeting, and long-term project planning.

RPP also provided direct one-on-one assistance to three ReConnect applicants, bringing in JSI to provide technical expertise with mapping and engineering specifications. Prior to receiving one-on-one assistance, potential applicants were prescreened to determine which were competitive, helping ensure that limited technical support resources were focused on projects with the greatest likelihood of success. The following applicants received one-on-one assistance:

• Alyrica Networks a small ISP based in Philomath, Oregon, serving roughly 10,000 subscribers in the Willamette Valley. 
• Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative (CCE), a member-owned electric cooperative based in Brookings serving over 14,000 members in southern Oregon through Beacon Broadband. CCE had previously applied to ReConnect Rounds 3 and 4 without success. 
• Warm Springs Telecom, a tribally owned enterprise of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs serving roughly 550 customers. 

The one-on-one technical assistance helped to address capacity gaps by acting as an extension of each applicant’s team. Consultants translated USDA requirements into plain language, coordinating technical and data expectations, and helped applicants craft a compelling narrative that highlighted their region’s unique challenges. This hands-on, tailored support allowed applicants to navigate decision points, address barriers, and submit competitive proposals.

Following participation in the RPP pilot, all three participating providers successfully advanced broadband investments in rural Oregon. CCE and Warm Spring Telecom were approved for approximately $7.2 million and $17 million, respectively, via ReConnect Round 5 grants, expanding service to more than 500 rural households.⁶ While Alyrica ultimately withdrew its ReConnect application due to a USDA lien requirement, the company later secured approximately $6.1 million in preliminary BEAD funding to enable expansion to over 1,200 households. Other members of the cohort that went through Broadband 101 have also successfully been able to access and/or develop proposals for ReConnect, BEAD, and Oregon’s Broadband Deployment Program.

Separately, RPP has applied the same model of one-on-one support to advance additional broadband efforts outside the pilot’s three applicants. In Tillamook County, RPP helped partners secure $4 million in congressionally directed funding through a $3 million and $1 million grant for the Three Rivers Fiber Broadband project.⁷ RPP also reports that planning assistance provided to MiWave for a previous BEAD application helped them secure a $10.9 million E‑Rate program award in Harney County to bring fiber access to seven remote schools. The same readiness-focused technical assistance has thus been successful across multiple programs, even when a provider was not part of the formal ReConnect application cohort.

Together, the one-on-one technical assistance and Broadband 101 capacity-building curriculum point to several core takeaways that illustrate how combining individualized support with scalable preparation materials can better position rural applicants to compete for, and successfully execute, federal broadband investments.

Key takeaways

RPP’s Oregon pilot program paired a structured readiness pathway, designed to bring providers to a common baseline, with targeted, one-on-one technical support to overcome project-specific hurdles that often determine whether an application is viable. Viewed as a partnership rather than a one-off intervention, this approach seeks to provide a cost-efficient way to support applicants with the greatest need but a workable plan. The takeaways below distill what the pilot suggests about how the design of technical assistance helps improve application quality and reduces avoidable barriers, and better positions underserved rural and tribal communities to compete for and execute federal broadband investments.

Prescreen applicants for cost-effective, strategic participation 

When it came to providing one-on-one assistance, prescreening helped identify ISPs that showed promise to be the most competitive, helping avoid unnecessary application costs, reducing staff time spent on non-viable proposals, and ensuring that the limited technical assistance resources were focused on applicants who were project-ready. This step maximized the impact of limited support funding, created an incentive for other ISPs to use the curriculum to improve their readiness, and guided those ISPs that were ready toward opportunities where they have the strongest chance of success.

Provide structured assistance to expand access and lower costs 

For many rural applicants, the up-front cost of preparing a ReConnect submission is prohibitive.⁸ In a typical situation, applicants often secure separate assistance even before starting an application and rely on that external partner to help organize application materials. This can cost applicants tens of thousands of dollars, putting the process out of reach for many smaller rural providers and doing little to build the applicants’ own grant preparation capacity.⁹ The Oregon pilot sought to streamline this process by providing baseline pre-development knowledge and readiness tools, layering in one-on-one assistance and access to a vetted pool of technical partners for targeted support. This approach shows promise in reducing reliance on decentralized technical assistance, building statewide partnerships over time, and raising application quality while lowering costs and errors.

Offer one-on-one support for low-capacity applicants 

Individual coaching provided essential guidance to applicants unfamiliar with the ReConnect process and unsure how to make their proposals competitive. RPP and JSI functioned as an extension of the applicant teams, helping translate technical requirements into actionable steps, keeping workstreams aligned with the ISP’s capacity, and identifying the unique elements that make each project stand out. For low-capacity applicants—those with limited prior experience and small staff—the personalized support enabled them to articulate why their project was needed and develop a compelling narrative. Having a central technical assistance hub ensured that these underserved applicants could access experienced, tailored guidance rather than relying on ad hoc or general short-term grant writing help, strengthening both submission quality and internal capacity.

Build grant readiness from the start 

Rural applicants are asked to assemble budgets, prepare documentation, map service areas, and assemble community support on short notice once a grant window opens. A structured pre-development pathway helps applicants become grant-ready ahead of time. Survey feedback indicates that Broadband 101 helped participants understand the necessary components for federal broadband grant programs, align project goals with program requirements, and coordinate internally on technical and documentation tasks. Participants also reported that the skills and materials gained from Broadband 101 translated into preparedness for other broadband grants, including BEAD, underscoring that this early-stage technical assistance built general grant readiness and improved participants’ ability to respond.

Sustain support beyond the application 

Applicants and RPP members expressed strong interest in follow-on training and support that extends beyond application readiness to cover grant administration and compliance, long-term budgeting and project costing, broadband adoption, and coordination with on-the-ground implementation partners. While one-on-one assistance helped applicants anticipate some post-award demands, it did not fully extend into implementation and pricing decisions, underscoring the need for a technical assistance continuum rather than a single pre-application intervention.

Leverage trusted local expertise and streamlined processes 

The RPP pilot suggests that states can expand participation in federal broadband programs by partnering with a locally trusted organization experienced in USDA-RD requirements to serve as a technical assistance or rural development hub. RPP’s role as the coordinating partner simplified how providers accessed support, ensured more consistent guidance across communities, and reduced reliance on ad hoc consulting by connecting applicants to specialized support, including JSI’s GIS and data expertise, through one streamlined pathway.

Streamline the application process 

Along with these technical assistance-focused takeaways, participants suggested that the ReConnect application process could be further streamlined in a way that recognizes the barriers rural applicants face in data gathering, grant management, and compliance. Inherent barriers include the pre-development application costs associated with putting a ReConnect application together, inconsistent application requirements, and uncertain funding cycles. By keeping application requirements and guidelines consistent between each year of funding, unsuccessful applicants from one award cycle are not faced with restarting their efforts from the ground up the following cycle. Given the tight fiscal situation and limited capacity of the applicants that might maximize the public benefit of these investments, changes from cycle to cycle represent a significant barrier. One idea for resolving this situation would be to renew the ReConnect program every five years instead of every year and keep the criteria for applicants consistent between each funding cycle.

Conclusion

Bipartisan interest remains in continuing ReConnect. In October 2025, Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Peter Welch (D-VT) reintroduced the bipartisan ReConnecting Rural America Act of 2025, which would authorize $650 million per year for ReConnect from fiscal years 2026 through 2030. Multi-year appropriations and clearer statutory parameters can reduce year-to-year uncertainty for rural applicants, allowing smaller providers to plan projects and partnerships without having to recalibrate for shifting funding levels or eligibility interpretations each cycle.

At the same time, even with renewed funding, it is not a given that the most remote and smallest rural communities will be able to access ReConnect’s resources. The Oregon pilot offers a practical model: develop a locally trusted hub to standardize readiness, connect prospective applicants to specialized support, and extend help into post-award requirements such as compliance and project management. Building on an initial $500,000 USDA investment, RPP’s structured pre-development support and hands-on technical assistance have helped communities secure over $40 million in broadband funding,¹⁰ representing a substantial return on investment, underscoring how early-stage capacity building can ensure limited federal dollars turn into deployable, high-impact infrastructure.