At a meeting last week of the Indiana County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, County Planning and Development Executive Director Byron Stauffer highlighted several items of interest, including an update on a number of funding opportunities to expand broadband in the county.
Stauffer, who also leads the Indiana County Development Corporation, said the county has received $1.5 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission and is working to get the project out to bid to internet service providers. He also said his office will collaborate with the state Department of Community Development on an $8.5 million federal grant application, and on a separate million-dollar state block grant which will target low-and-moderate income households.
Stauffer also said there will be a public presentation on Wednesday night for the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program for municipalities in the Indiana Area School District, and another meeting on November 17th of the Pennsylvania Transportation Improvement Program to discuss the next four years of transportation-related projects.
Finally, Stauffer offered the rather disconcerting news that Indiana County was the only one of the state’s 67 counties that performed under projections for participation in the 2020 Census. He said the county population was down by about 5,000 people since 2010, but that the census takers were particularly challenged by the fact that IUP was not holding in-person classes for most of its students, and so they were not living in the county. His office is currently reviewing the Census data for Indiana County.
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