Business, education, and civic leaders from Lawrence County were on hand Wednesday at the Lawrenceville Civic Center to hear about broadband internet connectivity across the entire state of Illinois. Matt Schmidt is the Director of Broadband for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. He says the state will invest $420 million in a strategic plan to bring basic internet access to all homes, businesses, and communities in all reaches of Illinois including Lawrence County beginning next year through the Connect Illinois Grant Program. The first step will be to correctly map internet coverages throughout the state and then work with providers to service those areas through grants. The initial first round of grant investments will be $50 million starting in 2020 into 2021.