(KMZA)--Governor Laura Kelly has announced that $5 million has been awarded to eight internet service providers--including Home, Kansas based Blue Valley Technologies--in the latest round of Broadband Acceleration Grants for 2023.

The announcement was made this week.

According to a release, the awards will be paired with an additional $6.6 million in matching funds, resulting in an investment of nearly $12 million for high-speed broadband access projects across 10 rural Kansas counties.

Blue Valley was awarded a nearly $240,000 grant, which will be matched with more than $359,000 in local funding, for a project in Nemaha County to bring high-speed broadband access to 49 premises.

Initiated in 2020, the Broadband Acceleration Grant is a 10-year, $85 million program designed to bring essential internet access to Kansas communities. Administered by the Kansas Office of Broadband Development and funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation- Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE), this latest round of grants brings the program- total investment for broadband infrastructure since 2020 to more than $31.5 million.

The projects were selected after review by an executive committee and the public.