Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Awards $7.7 Million in Community Compact Grants to Municipalities

Boston — Today, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced $7.7 million in grants to cities and towns across Massachusetts through the Community Compact Cabinet’s Municipal Fiber Grant Program. These funds will enable construction or completion of municipal fiber networks, which support IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and records management.  

“Through these grants, we’re helping to ensure that cities and towns have the robust and secure technology they need to serve Massachusetts residents,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We’re proud to make these investments to improve the connectivity and efficiency of local governments across the state.”  

This grant program is focused on connecting municipality-owned facilities and helping communities achieve goals associated with municipal fiber networks. Those goals include protecting against cyber security exploits and increasing the ease of interacting with local government online. A cohesive municipal network also creates opportunities for economies of scale by aggregating internet bandwidth purchases and associated security infrastructure. 

These grants can be particularly significant for small and rural municipalities that lack the resources to meet their communities’ IT needs. The full list of FY25 awards can be viewed here.  

“I want to congratulate the communities that are receiving municipal fiber grants this Fiscal Year,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Constructing municipal IT infrastructure can be a challenge for communities with limited resources, and this program is a vital piece of our administration’s commitment to supporting Massachusetts cities and towns.”  

“These investments in municipal fiber networks will help make our local governments more cost effective and efficient,” said Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew J. Gorzkowicz. “Our FY25 grants will close critical funding gaps for communities to maximize technology and gain economies of scale so that they can better serve residents.”  

“Every year, the demand for the Municipal Fiber Grant Program grows because the projects it funds create real, tangible improvement at the municipal level,” said Technology Services and Security Secretary Jason Snyder. “I am fortunate enough to meet with many local technology leaders, and many of them speak highly of the benefits they have realized through this grant. Connecting municipal assets on a fiber network allows for centralized management of IT infrastructure, which in turn enhances the cybersecurity posture as we strive to help make cities and towns more resilient.” 

In total, over $33 million has been awarded in municipal fiber grants through the Community Compact program since Fiscal Year 2022. These are competitive grants of amounts up to $250,000, or $500,000 if multijurisdictional. 

The FY25 grants include the following:

• Andover - $234,000 to upgrade the town’s Fiber Optic Municipal Area Network (FMAN) to a physically diverse core ring topology 
• Georgetown - $250,000 to implement a hub and spoke design across all town locations 
• Lynnfield - $250,000 to expand the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure 
• Northampton - $250,000 to expand the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure
• Northborough - $235,000 for the creation of a fiber optic cable ring closure  
• Westwood -- $239,000 for installation of fiber-optic infrastructure to support and enhance the reliability of the existing public safety radio communications system  

The municipal fiber grants announced today are one of four Community Compact funding opportunities offered by the state to municipalities each year, in addition to awards for Best Practices, Efficiency & Regionalization (E&R), and IT. Read more about the Community Compact funding opportunities. 

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