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The residents of Cloverlick now have the option of broadband internet service as part of the “Move the Needle” project. The project was designed to help unserved and underserved communities acquire reliable high speed internet service.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley welcomed several guests to a ceremony at a Cloverlick area church on a very chilly Wednesday morning, including representatives from Congressman Hal Rogers office and the Center for Rural Development.

“Today is a celebration of the completion of the Cloverlick ‘Move the Needle’ Broadband project,” Mosley said before the ceremony began. “This is a collaboration between the Harlan County Fiscal Court, the Center for Rural Development, and the Appalachian Regional Commission in getting high speed internet service to the people of Cloverlick.”

According to a press release, The Cloverlick Broadband Project is funded by a $80,000 grant from the Center for Rural Development and supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the Kentucky Department for Local Government, and was made possible due to the advocacy of U.S. Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05) and the dedicated efforts of Judge-Executive Dan Mosley and the Harlan County Fiscal Court.

“The residents of Cloverlick are very important citizens of Harlan County that have been deprived of the 21st century amenities of high-speed internet,” Mosley said. “Now, that’s over. We have a good partner in Access Cable who won the bid, they’re a local provider and now are serving this area as a result of this project.”

The installation of fiber optic cables along a six-mile stretch of roadway in the Cloverlick community guarantees the residents of Cloverlick can now enjoy the benefits of modern connectivity that were once beyond their reach.

Mosley noted the project is a game changer for the residents of Cloverlick.

“Kids need to be able to do their homework from home and learn remotely, this will give them the opportunity to do that,” Mosley said. “This will also open this area up for people to be able to work remotely from home.”

The release states 125 households now have access to high-speed internet in Cloverlick.

Harlan County District 3 Magistrate Paul Browning, whose district includes Cloverlick, is happy with the broadband expansion into the community.

“I’m super grateful to have the opportunity to be here today,” Browning said. “We’ve got several people here in my district that are work from home who had issue after issue with the lack of access. The new access that’s here now with Access Cable has provided very reliable service. I’ve gotten nothing but rave reviews.”

Browning mentioned high speed internet also provides increased safety for the area.

“There are many mining operations, and when you start talking about safety issues – of course they have their internal tracking devices – but if there’s a disaster, trying to get word or information in and out has been problematic at time,” Browning said.

Browning pointed out the new broadband access also provided better communication options for emergency personnel such as police and ambulance crews.

“I am grateful to have worked with The Center for Rural Development to provide quality internet in our district,” Browning said. “Fiscal court considers internet access a necessary utility – the same as water and electricity.”

Lonnie Lawson, President and CEO of the Center for Rural Development, attended the ceremony.

“We completed this spur of broadband/fiber project for the Cloverlick community,” Lawson said. “Now, we’re celebrating it being completed and the service being active so the customers can hook up to it.”

Lawson said Roy Baker of Access Cable played a large part in bringing the project to completion. Access Cable is the internet service provider for the Cloverlick project.

“We have funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission,” Lawson said. “We bring funding to it, then there’s always a 20 percent match that comes from the local community whether it’s the county or the provider. In this case it was the provider that provided the matching dollars for it, so were able to utilize the ARC funds and local match to make this happen and hook up the folks in Cloverlick.”