A newly created Pandemic Response website summarizes the program distributing federal resources, the amount of funding received by the county, and the status of programs and projects. It may be found at crawford-county-pandemic-response-crawfordcountypa.hub.arcgis.com.
The programs and projects are funded to prevent, prepare and respond to the impacts of COVID-19 as well as address the economic future of the county.
As examples, financial assistance has been distributed to more than 40 small businesses, 56 restaurants, bars and pubs, 1,226 households plus municipalities, nonprofit organizations, fire departments and other qualifying entities.
The website features funded projects that focus on workforce training, public health and safety, and the economic impact of the pandemic including expansion of high-speed broadband internet to seven of the nine libraries across the county enabling public access.
Moving forward, county commissioners are supporting larger initiatives including expanding high-speed broadband internet to areas of the county that don't have adequate service.
High-speed internet isn't the only technological barrier for communication within Crawford County as communities face a lack of cell and public safety radio coverage.
Commissioners are committing more than $3 million in pandemic funds toward deploying communication technology across the county. To provide information and resources about the effort, a second website, Communications in the 21st Century, has been set up. It can be found at crawford-county-communication-21st-century-crawfordcountypa.hub.arcgis.com.
County residents also are encouraged to take the five-question survey regarding internet service availability and satisfaction by asking the Crawford County Planning Office for a hard copy or going to https://arcg.is/154bqj to complete it online.
© 2022 The Meadville Tribune (Meadville, Pa.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
