The Declaration of Independence holds that “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are unalienable rights—and that is true regardless of zip code.

With that in mind, Womble Bond Dickinson is proud to introduce Grow the Grants!, an initiative to support the Foundation for Rural Service’s Grant Program. The Grant Program supports local efforts to build and sustain a high quality of life in rural America. Grant projects vary but are concentrated in four major areas including business and economic development, community development, education, and telecommunications.

The firm has set a goal of raising an additional $5,000 for the program by Jan. 1, 2019. This figure is above and beyond the $10,000 Womble Bond Dickinson is already contributing to the FRS Grant Program in 2018.

Through Womble Bond Dickinson’s Informational Memo service, for every annual subscription by an NTCA member, the firm will donate $125 to the FRS grant program. To provide an additional incentive, NTCA members will receive a 15% discount off the subscription price. The Informational Memo is an e-newsletter providing timely analyses of the FCC’s regulations and a bottom line of what organizations need to know to run their businesses.

“Our clients provide telecom and broadband services to rural communities that are in turn supporting urban communities through farming, ranching, oil and gas production and the creation of sustainable energy; these rural communities are their homes,” said Womble Bond Dickinson Partner Carri Bennet, who is leading the Grow the Grants! initiative. “We are proud to stand with the Foundation for Rural Service in supporting quality-of-life efforts for rural Americans. We look forward to making a greater contribution to the Grant Program through Grow the Grants! We hope that this will create greater awareness for the Grant Program and encourage others to contribute to it as well.”

Jessica Golden, FRS Executive Director stated, “The Foundation for Rural Service is so proud of our grant program. We work each day to invest back into our members’ rural communities and thank Womble Bond Dickinson for providing a new, outside the box way to help us make even more funding possible.”

Grow the Grants! will be officially launched at the NTCA’s upcoming regional conferences. The first of these events takes place July 15-17 in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Other conferences are scheduled for Couer d’Alene, Idaho, Fargo, N.D., Columbus, Ohio, and Seattle.

Click here for more information about the Womble Bond Dickinson Informational Memo Service.

About Foundation for Rural Service

The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), in cooperation with NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association and its members, seeks to sustain and enhance the quality of life in rural America by advancing an understanding of rural issues. FRS is committed to educational achievement in rural communities, recognizing that tomorrow’s economic and civic development depends on the involvement and commitment of today’s youth. www.frs.org.

About NTCA

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. www.ntca.org.

About Womble Bond Dickinson

Womble Bond Dickinson is a transatlantic law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers based in 26 UK and US office locations. The firm provides core legal services including: Commercial, Corporate, Employment, Pensions, Dispute Resolution, Litigation, Finance, Banking, Restructuring, Insolvency, IP, Technology and Data, Private Wealth, Projects, Construction and Infrastructure, Real Estate and Regulatory Law.

Womble Bond Dickinson has a particular focus on eleven key sectors: Energy & Natural Resources, Financial Institutions, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Retail & Consumer, Transport & Infrastructure, Pharmaceuticals Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Communications & Technology and Private Wealth.

The firm’s UK offices are in Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Plymouth and Southampton. The US offices are in Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Los Angeles, Orange County and Palo Alto, Calif.; Wilmington, Del; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, S.C.; Charlottesville and Tysons, Va.; and Washington, D.C.

Through the firm’s association with Lex Mundi, the world’s largest association of independent law firms, Womble Bond Dickinson also can offer clients access to quality-tested local counsel in more than 120 countries. www.womblebonddickinson.com/us