Calgary, AB – July 14, 2009 – Userful announces the “Secure Your Funding” initiative to help libraries, community colleges and other public sector organizations apply for, and receive Broadband Technology Opportunity Program stimulus money. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has allocated $7.2 billion to stimulate the development of broadband infrastructure. This includes a minimum of $200 million to expand public computing center capacity. The federal government began accepting applications for the first $4 billion of funding today, July 14. The application period for this round will close on August 14.
The initiative aims to help libraries and other public sector organizations who wish to secure funding by providing a dedicated team of people that these organizations can phone or e-mail to get advice on how to secure funding. The initiative is also providing a series of webinars (online seminars) and resources which provide an overview of the program, eligibility, and tips on how to prepare a successful application to make it easy for organizations to apply with confidence. The first such webinar took place on May 19 with John Windhausen, a Washington DC based technology funding consultant who served as communications counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and has written numerous studies and white papers on technology funding. Ginny Bird, Director of New River Public Library Cooperative attended the webinar and described it as a… “Good webinar, learned more in an hour on the Stimulus Bill than I did at an all day meeting.” A video of the webinar can be seen here: http://userful.com/media/webinar/stimulus-bill .
“This stimulus funding is very important for libraries and other public sector organizations,” said Daniel Griffin, VP of public computing at Userful. “Unfortunately there is a sea of confusion around the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program which is making it difficult for these organizations to get the funding they need and deserve. Any libraries or other public sector organizations looking for help applying for public computer center stimulus funding should phone one of our knowledgeable associates at: 1-866-873-9126 or e-mail: [email protected].”
On July 2 the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) that describes application procedures and project evaluation processes for the $4 billion first round of funding that opened for applications today. A synopsis of the NOFA highlighting the important items that organizations need to know to apply for the public computer center category is available here: http://library.userful.com/btop-synopsis.php . All of the money in this round is expected to be granted by September 30, 2010 with two additional rounds of funding expected to follow. Libraries, community colleges and other public sector organizations who would like to take advantage of this initiative should phone: 1-866-873-9126, or e-mail: [email protected].
About Userful
Userful helps libraries achieve and implement sustainable public computing solutions. Founded in 1999, Userful solutions are used in over 100 countries, and are bringing affordable green desktop computing to millions of users worldwide. www.userful.com
Press Contacts: Sean Rousseau, Marketing Manager Userful Phone (international): +1.250.590.7791 Toll free (Within North America): +1.866.873.9008 [email protected]
