Matt, Ours was the USDA BIP/BTOP program years ago
Process worked great for us. Made us a bigger, better company. Really helped out the local area. We took the approach that we were going to built this one way or another. We did very detailed engineering. Figured, if we didn't get the USDA money, we would still build out. Just a lot slower. You should use all the funds. We had categories that we were short on and categories we were long on. We were allowed to move money between categories with approval. At the end of the grant/loan we had 300 more people on the system than we estimated. All the programs are different, do your due diligences. Read it and understand it before getting in to it. Also, make sure the money is worth it. This is not *free* money. We have been done with the grant loan for several years now, but still have to file reports and get third party audits. Make sure you figure out if the time and effort is worth it. All the red tape may not be worth it for a few $100,000, but a few $1,000,000 is a whole different story. -- Best regards, Mark mailto:[email protected] Myakka Technologies, Inc. www.MyakkaTech.com ------ Friday, March 1, 2019, 4:49:33 PM, you wrote: MH> For anyone who has applied for usda or caf funding for fiber. MH> How did the process work for you? It seems like a catch 22. MH> Do you engineer the network first and then apply for the funds you need? MH> Or apply using good faith estimates and then engineer after you’ve been awarded? MH> What happens if you don’t use all the funds? Do you just give MH> them back? What happens if you run out? (I assume you are MH> obligated to return the uses funds or finish the build using your own capital) MH> Can usda/caf funding generally be used to purchase equipment (eg MH> vibratory plow, bucket truck) or only the infrastructure? (Eg fiber)? -- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
