Stimulus cash helping Ozark get broadband service by year’s end

By the end of the year, residents in the Ozark community should be enjoying the benefits of reliable broadband service — partly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Arkansas Department of Commerce has awarded a $1.9 million grant to the city in partnership with Pinnacle Telecom of Fort Smith to deploy fiber to homes in the Franklin County community.

Funding is administered through the Arkansas Rural Connect broadband program, which was established in 2019 by state legislators and Gov. Asa Hutchinson to expand broadband service to rural communities across the state.

Pinnacle has been installing infrastructure in Ozark along the city’s main business corridor and now will be able to offer broadband to residents who live near the pipeline, according to Pinnacle General Manager John Zeiler.

“It was just not financially feasible to extend broadband until now,” Zeiler said. “It’s just too costly to build out for residential customers, and we’d have to offer the service at prices they couldn’t afford.”

The state Commerce Department received $19.3 million through the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in March.

The federal subsidy provides the financing necessary to buy equipment and install the infrastructure needed to reach residents, Zeiler said.

“This also allows us to charge residents a little lower price than we normally would,” he added.

Arkansas Rural Connect provides grants to communities with at least 500 people to deploy high-speed broadband to residents. Speeds must be at least 25 megabits per second for download and 3 megabits per second for upload.

Those few Ozark residents who have broadband today get only about 10 megabits, Zeiler said. Pinnacle intends to provide speeds of up to 50-100 megabits and make the service available to more homes.

“Providing quality broadband to rural communities such as Ozark is a top priority for my administration,” the governor said in a statement. “Rural communities have been without broadband for too long, and the ARC program is designed to level the playing field for students and rural economies.”

Ozark is the second community to receive funding.

Fairfield Bay, the resort community on Greers Ferry Lake, was awarded a $1.5 million grant in mid-July. That project is being led by Arkansas Telephone Co. of Clinton.

Communities seeking broadband expansion select the communications provider they want to work with and then jointly apply to the state for funding.

The Commerce Department is still evaluating applications with a focus on projects that can deploy broadband before Dec. 30. For more information or to apply for an Arkansas Rural Connect grant, go to www.broadband.arkansas.gov.

Food delivery service Bite Squad is looking for 200 drivers in the Little Rock area.

Bite Squad says the drivers will be able to start immediately. Each applicant must have a valid driver’s license, proof of auto insurance and a smartphone, and be at least 18 years old.

“These positions will not only help satisfy the continued demand for delivery from our restaurant partners, they will offer employment during a time when many companies are cutting back their workforce,” company Chief Executive Officer Carl Grimstad, announced in a news release.

Go to bitesquad.com for more information or to apply. Flexible scheduling is available.

SOMA SATELLITE

Madonna Badger is bringing her award-winning creative agency to Arkansas with the opening of a satellite office in the SoMa area of Little Rock.

Badger & Winters, based in New York City, will open an office at 112 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive, just off South Main Street. The office plans to have up to eight employees with a focus on providing digital expertise to clients. The agency also will provide creative and brand management services.

Badger plans to split her time between Little Rock and New York. She lived with friends in Little Rock in 2012 after suffering the loss of her family in a fire. Badger credits the psychiatric research center at UAMS for her recovery and said she has fond memories of the city.

“Little Rock has long been my place for solace and creativity,” Badger said. “Now I look forward to adding to its storied history of business and growth as well.”

The agency recently launched the #WomenNotObjects campaign, which set out to change how women are portrayed in advertising. The company also serves major clients such as Olay, Beautyrest and Zales.

EXPIRING BENEFITS

Absent congressional action, jobless Arkansans will lose access to the extra $600 weekly unemployment benefit payments they’ve been receiving.

That benefit was the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation supplement that Congress approved in March as part of a $2.2 trillion financial aid package to help Americans make it through the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19 is still here, but the benefit goes away at the end of the month under rules established when the legislation was approved.

For Arkansans, the extra benefit was last paid for the week that ended Saturday, unless Congress passes legislation to extend the benefits. Beginning this week, the $600 will no longer be added to claimants’ weekly benefit amounts.

Regular state benefits will continue, however, through the state unemployment insurance fund.

Absence of the $600 payment could create financial hardship for many Arkansans, according to a recent survey.

A study by The Ascent found that nearly one-third of Americans receiving unemployment benefits say they won’t be able to survive financially past one month without the extra $600, and almost 90% won’t make it more than six months.

The Ascent surveyed nearly 2,000 Americans who have experienced income loss because of covid-19 to find out how they are coping.

When asked how long they could live without the extra $600 a week, 32% said less than one month; 33% said one to two months; 25% said three to six months. About 11% reported that they would be fine for more than six months.

The survey found that the financial crisis cuts deep: 47% of those surveyed said it would take more than six months to recover financially from losses suffered during the pandemic. Just more than 3% said they likely would never recover their losses.

The Ascent is a personal finance company owned by The Motley Fool.