LINCOLN- Patrick Haggerty was announced by Gov. Pillen as the state's first director of the Nebraska Broadband Office. Pillen called for the office in an executive order during his first days as governor and was solidified through the passage of LB683 this year. Haggerty will assume the role of director on July 17, and will join Pillen’s Cabinet. The new state office is devoted to expanding broadband services across Nebraska.

“Patrick’s many years of executive level experience in the telecommunications and government relations fields uniquely positions him to lead our efforts to bring reliable and affordable high-speed internet to all Nebraskans,” Pillen said in a press release. Haggerty most recently served as the regional senior director for state government affairs over Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota for telecommunications company Charter Communications.

The Broadband Office is tasked with overseeing millions of federal dollars for the purposes of expanding broadband services, including $405.3 million from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program that federal officials recently announced was coming to Nebraska. The state had received nearly $100 million prior to the announcement.

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