Greeting Mark Kurtz, Senior Business Project Manager, Elevate Elevate, based in Montrose, Colorado Wholly owned subsidiary of Delta-Montrose Electric Assn 2.5 years, approaching 1,000 miles of fiber plant including our Middle Mile, 6200 internet subscribers, 1100 phone subscribers and 500 video subscribers

Colorado’s Broadband Fund Grant Recipients Experiences & Lessons Learned COOP’s are rural, non-profits: Lack of density drive costs up, making per home passed costs high Economy: Region 10’s white paper... Coal mines closing in Paonia, etc. First Gig town on Western slope. Very few homes left in Paonia for sale now, etc. A combination of coop funds, City Funds, Country funds, DOLA funds, DORA funds... Can create an unbeatable combination to drive technology into rural settings. DORA Staff: Jordan Beezley and Brian Martin are wonderful to work with. Limited funds: Funds typically limited to ~ $5MM per cycle. Be strategic in how you approach your grant application based on this Compliance: Do Not spend dollars until you have a full signed contract with the state Keep impeccable records to aid in getting reimbursed COOP’s are very rural, member owned, non-profits – grants make high cost build outs possible State grants received in DMEA’s service territory have bolstered the economy –Region 10 white paper, the results are undeniable DORA, DOLA & OIT staff’s are wonderful – Use them as an application resource Funds are limited, applications are many, so be strategic when applying If awarded, grant compliance isn’t difficult, but will take some effort

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