The Connect Illinois Broadband Grant Program includes $400 million in appropriated funds available for expansion of broadband infrastructure throughout the state. Through multiple rounds of competitive matching grants, Connect Illinois will provide direct matching grants, awarded on a competitive basis via merit based review, to grant applicants including broadband providers, rural cooperatives, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and partnerships.

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Public Act 101-0029

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Connect Illinois seeks to achieve what no other state or federal approach to date has accomplished: ubiquitous broadband access for homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions. In addition, the program seeks to drive economic development and advances in such areas as telehealth, distance learning, and precision agriculture.

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Within thirty (30) days of the execution of the Agreement, the Grantee will provide a detailed timeline of projected deliverables, which must be approved by Grantor. The timeline and any subsequent revisions shall be incorporated by reference into this Agreement. The timeline will be submitted in conjunction with the initial Periodic Performance Report (PPR). The timeline will be used to measure performance throughout the life of the Award and will be updated and reported on each PPR reporting due date. The project specific performance measures will encompass the following standardized performance measures listed below. • Did the deliverables listed in the timeline submitted pursuant to Exhibit B lead to the completion of the project described in Exhibit A? • Given the total amount of Grant Funds available, does the percent currently drawn and expended directly correlate to the percent of the completion of the project to date? • At the time of the Award closeout, has the Grantee fulfilled the public purpose of the project stated in Exhibit A? The Grantor shall authorize upon request an initial disbursement in the amount of 25% in advance to address the Grantee’s immediate cash needs according to their reported and grantor approved obligations. Thereafter, the payments may be made for the dual purpose of reimbursing for expenditures incurred as well as documented cash needs of the Grantee as approved by the Grantor. Reimbursement of costs incurred prior to the start of the Award Term provided may be allowed only if specifically provided for in the Project Description (scope of work) as approved by the Grantor in its sole discretion. Additional Items Include: Prevailing Wage: grantee shall comply with all requirements of the Prevailing Wage Act, including but not limited to, inserting into all contracts for construction a stipulation to the effect that not less than the prevailing rate of wages as applicable to the project shall be paid to all laborers, workers, and mechanics performing work under the award and requiring all bonds of contractors to include a provision as will guarantee the faithful performance of such prevailing wage clause as provided by contract. Grantees will be required to report on Prevailing Wage Act compliance on a monthly basis. Employment of Illinois Workers on Public Works Act: whenever there is a period of excessive unemployment in Illinois (as defined by the Act), Grantees shall employ at least 90% Illinois laborers on their project. Environmental Reviews: based on the scope of the project the grantee may be required to complete additional environmental approvals before a grant agreement can be initiated. BEP: the grantee will be required to comply with the Business Enterprise Program for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act (30 ILCS 575/0.01 et seq.). Illinois Works Job Program: the grantee will be required to comply with the Illinois Works Apprenticeship Initiative (30 ILCS 559/20-20 to 20-25). THE FOLLOW ARE GATA EXCEPTIONS AND ARE NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS PROGRAM: INDIRECT COST RATE Explanation for the Deviation This grant is funded with Illinois Bond Funds. The statutes authorizing this funding list specific types of direct costs allowable from those respective funds. Only the types of direct costs outlined in those Acts may be covered via those funds. This restricts this allowance of indirect costs for this grant program.

Government Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; For-Profit Organizations; Small Businesses; Public Housing Organizations; Other;

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Project Grants

Economic Development

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The Applicant (unless the Applicant is a Federal or State awarding agency that is exempt from those requirements under 2 CFR § 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal or State awarding agency under 2 CFR § 25.110(d)) is required to: i. Be registered in SAM before submitting its application. To establish a SAM registration, go to www.SAM.gov and/or utilize this instructional link: How to Register in SAM from the www.grants.illinois.gov Resource Links tab. ii. Provide a valid DUNS number in its application; and iii. Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal, Federal pass-through or State award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal or State awarding agency. The State awarding agency may not make a Federal pass-through or State award to an applicant until the Applicant has complied with all applicable DUNS and SAM requirements and, if an Applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time the State awarding agency is ready to make a Federal pass-through or State award, the State awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal pass-through or State award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal pass-through or State award to another applicant. To be deemed eligible for funding, completed applications and all required supporting documentation – five (5) paper copies OR one (1) electronic PDF – must be received by the Illinois Office of Broadband on or before 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020. The paper copies of the completed application packages with all associated documentation must fit on 8.5” x 11” paper. This size restriction includes all paper copy versions of maps and tables. Large format maps (e.g. .shp, .kmz, .kml) should be provided in an electronic submittal. If paper copy documentation for a particular response is voluminous and therefore easier to attach as a separate paper or electronic file, it should be labeled as an Appendix with the associated item number with which it corresponds in the grant application. The Illinois Office of Broadband will award grants to projects that help advance the Connect Illinois vision while demonstrating optimal impact of Connect Illinois funds. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by a team from the Illinois Office of Broadband. This team will use the following criteria and associated point values (200 points possible) to assist in systematically scoring applications and awarding grants. These criteria will be applied to information provided by the Applicant in response to the requirements of this NOFO. To ensure that an application receives the highest possible scoring, please be sure to provide complete, comprehensive, and clear responses for all information requested; as such, succinct responses are encouraged as appropriate. The team will strive to achieve geographic balance throughout the state in awarding grants. As a result, applications may be considered on a regional basis per the 10 designated state economic development regions of Illinois, a map of which is available at: www2.illinois.gov/dceo/ConnectIllinois. Applications also may be considered on the basis of three categories of focus. Given the Connect Illinois vision to achieve broadband ubiquity while driving economic development and advances in areas such as distance learning, precision agriculture, and telehealth, applications should be classified under one of three categories: (a) broadband access for Illinois homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions; (b) broadband innovation for economic development and related applications; or (c) urban broadband for access and/or innovation in qualified Illinois cities or metropolitan areas of 75,000 residents or more. Although successful projects may – and are encouraged to – produce positive impact toward both broadband access and broadband innovation, Applicants

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The Merit Based Review process is subject to appeal. However, competitive grant appeals are limited to the evaluation process. Evaluation scores may not be protested. Only the evaluation process is subject to appeal. The appeal must be submitted in writing to the Department within 14 calendar days from the date of the denial letter. The written appeal shall include the name and address of the appealing party, the identification of the grant and a statement of reasons for the appeal. To file an appeal, applicants must submit the appeal in writing and in accordance with the Merit-Based Application Review Appeals Process listed on the Grant Opportunities page of the DCEO website: https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/AboutDCEO/GrantOpportunities/Pages/MeritAppReview.aspx.

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Formula and Matching Requirements. The Connect Illinois Broadband Grant Program will contribute up to 50 percent of the eligible costs for a qualifying project. To obtain a grant, the applicant must provide for the funding not covered by the grant with matching funds. The match can come from any private and/or public sources available to the Applicant. The merit-review scoring process will award points to applications that leverage matching funds totaling 55% or more of total eligible project costs. Documentation to validate the availability of matching funds is required as part of the application. Some examples of appropriate documentation include: a letter of credit; letter confirming funds from a bank; board resolution committing funding; or loan documentation. If the application will have additional financial partners contributing to the matching funds, the application must also identify the financial partner(s) and documentation of the amount and availability of each partner’s financial match.

Eligible costs refer to the costs associated with the acquisition and installation of middle mile and/or last mile infrastructure that can support broadband service scalable to speeds of at least 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload. Last mile infrastructure is broadband installation that serves as the final leg connecting the broadband service provider’s network to the end-user customer’s on-premise telecommunications equipment. Middle mile infrastructure is broadband construction that links a broadband service provider’s core network infrastructure to last mile infrastructure. Eligible project costs for this NOFO may include the following: proposal development; network design; project planning; obtaining construction permits; construction of facilities – including deployment of middle mile and/or last mile infrastructure; durable equipment; and installation and testing of the broadband service.

Quarterly PPR and PFR

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324-42035-4900-0022

4,860,141.99

Various

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Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Grantee Portal: www.grants.illinois.gov Grant Payment: 44 Ill Admin. Code Title 44, Subtitle F, Part 7000 Section 120 Periodic Financial Reports: 2 CFR 200.327 and Periodic Performance Reports: 2 CFR 200.328 Monitoring: 2 CFR 200.336 Final Closeout Report: 2 CFR 200.343 Audit: 31 USC 7501-7507 and 30 ILCS 708/65(c)

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555 W Monroe St, 12th Floor Chicago, IL 60661, 1011 S 2nd St Springfield, IL 62704, 1020 S Spring St Springfield, IL 62704

Connect Illinois Program: www2.illinois.gov/dceo/ConnectIllinois

Connect Illinois Broadband Grant Program

Connect Illinois Round 1,2,3

10/19/2021

Indirect Cost Rate; Other;

FY 2020 : $50,000,000
FY 2021 : $50,000,000
FY 2026 : $4,860,141