W.Va. Gov. Justice presents $2.3 million check to Thundercloud broadband project

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Friday presented a more than $2.3 million check from a matching state grant to the city of Huntington to help with the Thundercloud broadband expansion project.

The project, a combined effort among the city, Mountain Health, Marshall University and others to bring high-speed internet to the area, also has received federal funding.

“The next horizon has to be broadband, it has to be,” Justice said during the presentation at Huntington’s Pullman Square. “That’s all there is to it.”

Justice said state Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, and others helped secure the initial investment of more than $2.3 million, and matching that felt like a natural step.

“There’s no question what a worthy cause this will be for this area,” the governor said. “We’re on our way. What an incredible day ... There’s so many good things going on in this incredible town.”

The governor was joined at the presentation by Plymale, Mayor Steve Williams and others.

According to its website, Thundercloud is “a well-crafted and ambitious initiative to lay a high-speed, 11.36-mile, 144-count, underground broadband fiber backbone connecting the Village of Barboursville to the heart of downtown Huntington, WV, and deploy a robust last-mile, underground fiber ring linking businesses and anchor institutions to gigabit-speed infrastructure.”