Rural Northern KY town celebrates infrastructure milestone, access to broadband

The Harrison County town of Berry celebrated an infrastructure milestone Monday that will see it connected with high-speed, broadband Internet. It’s part of a Harrison County project that will see more than 3,700 homes and businesses get outfitted.

Berry is a rural Northern Kentucky town with a population of just a couple hundred residents. It’s now the 10,000th community that has entered an agreement with Charter Communications, the parent company of Internet provider Spectrum.

Mayor Keith Ison says he hopes the new infrastructure will help the local economy.

“I'm really hoping, you know, praying that more business comes in,” Ison said. “We’ve got several places looking, but right now we’d like more businesses to help us grow as a community.”

A $10,000 grant is also going to the town to create a digital learning center where students can go for classwork. The broadband project is expected to be completed in two years.

“They surprised us because they said, ‘What do y’all need?’,” Ison said. “And we said something about a place where kids can go do their homework and stuff if they don't have Internet service.”

Other grants went toward other community improvements, like a $50,000 investment towards the city park, and $10,000 to the Harrison County High School’s music programs.

The broadband project is expected to be completed in two years.

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