Leveraging Public Funding with Private Partnership

Our ~$280M project blends public and private capital:

  • $90.7M in BEAD funding provisionally awarded

  • Revenue bonds

  • Philanthropic funds

  • Additional grant programs

  • BEAD is a once-in-a-lifetime program that enables us to finally get high-quality broadband to our rural areas. CoreConnect’s team saw the opportunity and pounced on it with all we had.

  • Pennsylvania’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is funded pursuant to the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 to expand access to high-speed internet across the United States. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) is administering the BEAD program in accordance with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s policies. Grants were awarded to those with the technical, managerial, and financial expertise to design, build, and operate high-speed broadband service infrastructure within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

  • Issued as tax-exempt revenue bonds. No county debt burden.

    A revenue bond is bond that is funded through the income generated by specific projects, like toll roads, bridges, and infrastructure. Unlike general obligation bonds, which rely on taxes, revenue bonds are repaid from the project’s revenues, making them a unique investment option for public infrastructure.

  • Building digital infrastructure as a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit changes the entire objective of the network:

    • Public Disclosures: All financial filings (IRS Form 990) are fully accessible to the public.

    • Zero Profit Extraction: Revenue stays in the 10-county footprint rather than leaving as corporate profits.

    • Open Competition: We own the underlying fiber "runway" and allow multiple ISPs to compete, driving down prices for consumers.

    • Mission-Driven Coverage: Decisions are based on community health, economic growth, and education—not short-term stock performance.

Thank you to our Philanthropic partners

They have enabled CoreConnect to form as a non-profit, plan this network and apply for the funding needed to build a broadband network that will be an economic driver in the region.

The Northwest Pennsylvania Eminent Community Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity operating out of Oil City, PA affiliated with the Northwest Commission.

Boosting the local economy and creating an environment where current residents thrive and newcomers are enticed to live, work, and play.

On a mission to create opportunity for the communities hardest hit by coal’s decline, they are grounded in the belief that sustainable solutions are driven by local leaders and built from the bottom up.

Funding Acknowledgements:

"This Project was financed, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, under the administration of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Broadband Development Authority."

"This Project was financed, in part, by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"

If you suspect waste, fraud or abuse in the BEAD Program or CoreConnect operations, contact the Commonwealth’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse hotline at: 717-525-5031

or email: ra-cd-fraud-hotline@pa.gov

Or the U.S. DOC Office of Inspector General:

U.S. Office of Inspector General