NCSC Funding Awakens Dormant Partnership, Helps Expand Rural Montana Broadband

When Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (Blackfoot) sought financing to supplement millions in government broadband grants, it looked to a source it had not considered in years—NCSC. Blackfoot, a Missoula, Montana-based cooperative, provides Rural Local Exchange Carrier services across more than 7,000 square miles of western Montana and more than 2,000 square miles of eastern Idaho. It also has a large Competitive Local Exchange Carrier operation providing enterprise level and wholesale networking solutions to businesses across the Rocky Mountain west.

Rekindling Cooperative Ties

After being inactive for almost a decade, the relationship between NCSC and Blackfoot revived in 2023, and, after evaluating many different lenders and financing options, Blackfoot decided in the first quarter of 2024 to use $17 million in letters and lines of credit from NCSC to supplement the government funding it needed to implement its fiber-to-the-premises broadband expansion. 

“We looked at many financing options and companies to help us with our credit and funding needs,” Blackfoot CEO Jason Williams said. “When it came down to decision points beyond price and terms, the fact that NCSC is a cooperative and shares those values was a significant factor, as well as the process and people involved.”

Outstanding Industry Knowledge

NCSC also understood the strong relationship the cooperative shared with a local bank and structured the financing to ensure those ties remained and Blackfoot was still a good community business partner.

“The NCSC team was responsive to our specific needs and wants, worked alongside us as partners and made the whole process simple and easy,” Blackfoot CFO Stacey Mueller said. “They were informed, creative, responsive and helpful every step of the way.”

The comprehensive NCSC financing package will help Blackfoot access government grants alongside its own resources and assets to expand its networks, continuing its broadband buildout under the RUS ReConnect Grant Program and also beginning an NTIA Middle Mile Grant Program award later this year.

Flexible Financial Support

“The new financing arrangement with NCSC provides Blackfoot significant flexibility and financial support to continue transforming our cooperative network from copper to a robust fiber-optic network,” Williams said. “In so doing, rural communities and residents will now have access to high-speed internet network capabilities that rival any urban area, bringing economic benefits and opportunities to some of the smallest communities in our nation. This is a huge economic and quality of life benefit to our members.”

All of this NCSC and government funding comes as Blackfoot is in year seven of its fiber-to-the-premises project, which the company anticipates will take another five to seven years to fully complete. To finish these large-scale construction projects, the cooperative will continue to use federal and state grant programs, which will require lending flexibility in the years ahead.

“NCSC funding is critical to us being successful,” Williams said. “Blackfoot historically has, and continues to be, growth-minded, edging out from our existing cooperative footprint, acquiring other rural properties and entering competitive markets. With a partner like NCSC, we will be positioned for whatever comes next.”