The Mathews Broadband Advisory Board has been forging ahead since it was established in June by the Mathews County Board of Supervisors. Less than a month into its mission, the board had already fleshed out its core membership and developed an initial list of stakeholder advisors. 

Now, just over two months since it was established, the board has had presentations on a variety of topics related to broadband, and in August it received the county supervisors’ approval to move forward on an application for a Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) 50/50 matching grant. The state grant, which would help fund various shovel-ready Atlantic Broadband projects in six counties in the area covered by the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, could also help pay for high-speed internet for the Peach Point community in Mathews.

Judy Rowe, chair of the Mathews Broadband Advisory Board, said that the initial amount the MPPDC had asked each county to provide was $25,000, bu...