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"With this money we are one step closer to President Biden's
ambitious goal of affordable and reliable internet for all,"
Biden's infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu told
reporters.
At the same time, Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to
New York on Thursday to announce formation of the Economic
Opportunity Coalition, a coalition of 23 companies and
foundations, with the aim of investing billions of dollars into
low-income communities.
The aim of the group, the White House said, will be to "address
economic disparities and accelerate economic opportunity in
communities of color and other underserved communities."
The White House said founding members of the coalition include
Ariel Investments, Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Capital One,
Citi, Discover, Ford Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Google, Key
Bank, Kresge Foundation, Mastercard, McDonald's, McKinsey &
Company, Micron, Momentus Capital, Moody’s, Netflix, PayPal,
PNC, The Rockefeller Foundation, TIAA, and Upstart.
The $401 million in loans and grants comes from the ReConnect
Program, a fund dispersed by the U.S. Agriculture Department. It
will support high-speed internet projects in Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico,
Nevada, North Dakota and Texas, USDA said.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Michael Perry)
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