Four more states announced projects to expand broadband access, increase adoption numbers and modernize state agencies. Here is a look at some of the projects getting underway:

Kentucky: Connected Nation is developing a $78 million plan combining public and private funding to bring high-speed Internet access to all state residents over the course of two years. CEO Brian Mefford said the project would also include broadband training courses. “The biggest barriers have to be addressed to get those people online,” Mefford said. “This program will begin addressing those barriers starting with the poorest of the poor.” The project will also create jobs in tech support and broadband education. “We’ll also be looking for other adults in the community who are technology savvy,” Mefford said, “who might be interested in being that type of ongoing resource.” Read the Daily News story here.

Minnesota: The Blandin Foundation has received a $4.7 million grant to be distributed through 19 rural community partners, including state workforce centers and state university system. The project will not actually build broadband fiber or wireless towers, but will seek to improve adoption and awareness of existing broadband capabilities. "This was not a slam dunk,'' said Blandin President Jim Hoolihan. "We're pretty excited.'' Read the Minneapolis Star Tribune story here.

New Hampshire: The town of Ridge is establishing a public-private partnership called FastRoads to bring broadband to its 6,100 residents. In an effort to expand its tax base, Rindge has mounted a major effort to attract other business and industry but this effort has been thwarted by the town’s lack of high-speed Internet service,” Ridge Selectmen Chairman Burton E. Goodrich Jr. wrote in a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “If Broadband was to come to Rindge, the potential for economic development would be limitless.” Read the Keene Sentinel story here.

Virginia: The state’s Information Technologies Agency is launching a project to increase state and local broadband speeds. "There are unserved areas of the state and there are underserved areas of the state," Deputy Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson said in an interview with the Richmond Times Dispatch.