SDN Communications of Sioux Falls, SD has been awarded a grant from the National Telecommunication and Information Administration’s Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP). The program is one of the broadband initiatives created as part of the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $20 million grant award is the result of a collaborative effort between SDN Communications and CHR Solutions, Inc., which assisted SDN in the grant application process.

Martin Group, which merged with CHR Solutions in September, provided grant application submission assistance for SDN’s middle-mile project. The project will deliver 10 Megabit per second service to community anchor institutions, including schools, hospitals, libraries, and various government organizations, across SDN’s Internet backbone. SDN’s middle-mile infrastructure will consist of 359 route miles of fiber optic network to nearly 305 anchor institutions. The three-year project is scheduled to begin in 2010.

“CHR played a key role in SDN Communications’ application winning a grant in the first round,” says SDN CEO Mark Shlanta. “The fact that SDN was first to be named in the top 1 percent of the applications speaks to the quality of work by CHR. They brought all the necessary resources to the table and participated as a team member rather than a third party vendor.”

For more information, please contact Peter Rasmusson at 605-996-9646.

About SDN Communications
SDN Communications’ 21,000-mile fiber optic footprint touches 300 South Dakota communities and reaches into Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and North Dakota.
Eighteen of South Dakota’s independent telephone companies – cooperative, municipal, tribal, and family-owned companies – own SDN. It is the premier business-to-business broadband service provider for:

— Connectivity – for multiple-location offices
— Internet – dedicated service
— Network Surveillance – guarding networks
— Networking Equipment – cabling infrastructure, data equipment, and IP telephony

For more information go to: www.sdncommunications.com.

About CHR Solutions
CHR Solutions is a comprehensive, single-source provider of professional business services to a variety of industries, including telecommunications, energy, finance, information technology, and emerging technology clients. CHR Solutions prides itself in offering dedicated, resource-rich, world class service and support while maintaining customized care and personalized interaction through local delivery teams. CHR guides clients to manage risks, align technologies, grow revenues, improve operations and control costs. Services include regulatory/business compliance, financial services, marketing services, operational optimization, engineering, wireless strategy, IT managed services and software solutions. CHR provides services to clients in all 50 states and internationally, through a network of 14 offices in eight states.