Editor's Note: Spectrum Internet is affiliated with Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum News 1.

BERRY, Ky. — Spectrum is celebrating its 10,000th community served by expanding service to Berry, Kentucky.

This was made possible through a combination of state and local rural broadband grants.

Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., joined the celebration in the town of about 350 people. Many residents said having an internet connection is important in rural areas and hope this will help their town bounce back. 

Berry City Clerk Sherri Casey does a little bit of everything for the town she grew up in, just like her mom did before her.

“My mom was the clerk here," Casey said. "I’ve been here all my life, 58 years."

“Berry used to be thriving. We had a little grocery store back in the '70s, and my grandmother had a restaurant here. We had three gas stations. We’re wanting to get something back like that again.”

Something holding the town and surrounding Harrison County back, Casey said, is a lack of internet access. She can only use it at city hall.

“I cannot get the internet at my home,” she said. “Not everybody has had access to it throughout the county. We cannot get internet throughout the county; half of the county has it, and half does not."

"But with the (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) grant money, we will be able to get that done.”

Larry Wells has lived in Berry since 1967 and said the town once thrived with a restaurant, bank, barbershop and more. 

“It’s just continually gone downhill in past years," Wells said. "There (are) no stores or businesses. It was a pretty busy place, but now, pretty much people just sleep here.”

Wells is retired, other than tending to his farm, but he worked in informational technology for 40 years.

“It was very important to have internet service at my house," he said. "I utilized it a lot."

“There were a lot of people who probably didn’t have it because they couldn’t afford it. In today’s society, it’s just something you have to have. There’s a lot of jobs and future jobs that depend on the internet.”

Johnny Murphy does maintenance for Berry and also takes care of wastewater. He said he'd like to see more options for internet service than what's available, which right now is only fixed wireless. 

“It’s a good little town," he said. "We need some businesses to come in."

Casey said she thinks Spectrum expanding service to Berry will be transformative.

“Our little city will have a choice of, maybe, a more reliable internet, and the cost will be less," she said. "And that’s what we want for our community, to expand better opportunities. That’s what our goal is, to bring in more businesses.”

Her mother passed away about a year ago. 

“I keep saying to myself, ‘Mom is up there,'" she said. "She’s up there orchestrating something for Berry."

The design process for expanding service in Berry will begin this summer, with construction complete by the end of 2025.

Editor's note: Spectrum Internet is affiliated with Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum News.