Broadband touches nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy, providing Americans with unprecedented opportunities in employment, education, health care, entrepreneurship, and civic participation. For millions of Americans without adequate access to broadband, however, the possibility of falling behind in the knowledge-based economy is real. Recognizing this concern, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $7.2 billion to stimulate economic growth and create jobs by expanding the deployment and adoption of broadband services. The Administration is now announcing the first of the Recovery Act broadband awards. By leveraging federal dollars, the Administration's Recovery Act investments will expand broadband access throughout the nation and provide more Americans--in both urban and rural areas--with the opportunity to succeed in the digital age. Among the awards are investments in "middle-mile" networks, which connect unserved or underserved communities to the Internet backbone. These investments will maximize the impact of federal dollars by encouraging private service providers to build connections to homes and businesses using the publicly funded infrastructure. In rural areas and areas with low population density that are difficult to reach, Recovery Act awards will fund investments in the "last mile" of service, which will help provide connections to homes and businesses that would otherwise go without high-speed Internet access. These critical broadband investments will create tens of thousands of jobs and stimulate the economy in the near term. By providing broadband-enabled opportunities to previously underserved communities, these investments will also lay the foundation for long-term regional economic development and foster a digitally literate workforce that can compete in the new knowledge-based economy. (Contains 5 figures, 3 boxes and 3 footnotes.)