Ten small communities are finalists in the T-Mobile Hometown Techover contest. The winner will be named later this summer.
The finalists are the borough of Stroudsburg, PA; Dunn, N.C.; Girard, KS; Guadalupe, CA; Hopkinsville, KY; Kalispell, MT; Wareham, MA; Washington, MO and Woodstock, IL.
Both the winning community as a whole and individual households within it will get goods and services valued by T-Mobile at more than $3 million.
These benefits include:
- A $200,000 grant and consulting services from Smart Growth America
- A Little League baseball field refurbishment including a tech upgrade and T-Mobile Little League Call Up Grant support
- An upgrade to a public space such as a library, community center or town square
- Concierge enrollment in the T-Mobile Project 10 Million and Connecting Heroes programs
- A free concert featuring the duo Florida Georgia Line.
The winner will be selected by a panel of judges from T-Mobile and Smart Growth America. The criteria include project feasibility, the community’s need for the upgrade, community leadership and engagement. The nine non-winners each will get $50,000 to jumpstart or complete a community project.
The winning town is intended to be a 5G role model for other communities, according to the press release.
“It’s time to celebrate the small towns at the very heart of our country,” Jon Freier, the Executive Vice President of T-Mobile’s Consumer Group said in the press release. “As the 5G leader, we’re committed to helping bridge the digital divide and getting rural America as well-connected as Big City USA. This three-million-dollar Hometown Techover is just one example of how we’ll get to work … and it’s just the beginning.”
The program is aimed at communities with populations of less than 50,000 people. The T-Mobile Hometown Techover, the 5G Home Internet service and T-Mobile Hometown all were announced at the beginning of April
