Seventeen electric and telephone cooperatives across Tennessee were awarded grants Friday to expand high-speed internet service availability to another 12,700 households and businesses in rural parts of the state.
In the third year of its broadband extension program, the state Department of Economic and Community Development give the local broadband providers a total of $19.7 million in grants, including $2 million to the Ben Lomand Connect to serve parts of Cumberland County, $1.5 million to BTC Fiber to serve parts of Bledsoe County and nearly $1.7 million to SVECOnnect to serve the Battle Creek and South Pittsburg Mountain communities in Marion County.
The local coops receiving the state aid will provide $29.8 million in matching funds to complete the projects for a combined investment of $49.5 million across the state.
"One of my top priorities is ensuring the success of rural Tennessee," Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said. "With the assistance of these grants, communities across 21 counties will now have access to broadband that will aid in that success,"
According to the FCC's 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, nearly one in four rural Tennesseans lack access to broadband. In response, Gov. Lee has included $25 million in his fiscal year 2021 recommended budget to continue the grant program.
Mortgage rates falling again
U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week for the second straight week as anxiety has spiraled over devastation to the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year loan dipped to 3.33% this week from 3.50%. A year ago the rate stood at 4.08%.
The average rate on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 2.82% from 2.92%.
The recent declining trend in mortgage rates has been driven by investors shifting money out of the stock market and into the safety of U.S. Treasurys as the crisis in confidence caused by the global viral outbreak has worsened.
Mohawk CEO pay drops for 3rd year
The head of Mohawk Industries made nearly one third less in total compensation last year compared with 2018, according to the company's proxy statement released Friday.
Jeff Lorberbaum, the CEO of Mohawk Industries, was paid a total of $3.1 million in 2019, down by 32.5% from the previous year and nearly $2 million below what Lorberbaum was paid two years ago.
Under Lorberbaum, Mohawk has grown into the world's biggest floorcovering company with annual sales last year of nearly $10 billion. Mohawk's stock rose 16.6% during 2019, but the company's stock price has fallen so far in 2020 by more than 55%.
In its regulatory filing, Mohawk said Loberbaum was paid 73 times the $42,999 median compensation for all Mohawk employees.