FERRIDAY, La. – Individuals and businesses from three parishes will be able to teleconference and take long-distance college courses at reduced cost using high-tech equipment being bought with a $82,003 federal grant.

The Macon Ridge Economic Development Region has been approved for the grant from the U.S. Rural Development Agency and will match the award with $61,000 of its own funds, said Kevin Landers, MIS/IT director for Macon Ridge.

With the money, Macon Ridge will buy the equipment necessary to provide long-distance, interactive college lectures at its Ferriday headquarters.

So far, the University of Louisiana at Monroe and Louisiana Tech have agreed to offer such courses, and an agreement is being worked out with Grambling State University, Landers said.

&uot;People will still have to enroll in those courses through the university and pay their tuition, but won’t have the travel and other expenses associated with college,&uot; he added.

Businesses will also be able to arrange to hold long-distance conferences with other companies via the system. There will be a charge for that service, since one requirement of the grant is that it be used to establish programs that can pay for themselves.

&uot;The bottom line is that these (teleconferencing) services will help us attract and retain businesses,&uot; Landers said. &uot;Without the right educational background, it is hard to compete for industry with larger cities like Dallas, New Orleans or Houston.&uot;

The Boys and Girls Club to be located in the old Florida Street Gym building and the United Hands Youth Center on U.S. 84 will also be equipped with distance learning — and with Internet access that will be free to the public. That will help youth, and the public at large, gain needed computer skills, said Kevin Bridgewater, director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Delta.

&uot;This will provide an opportunity for Ferriday residents to have multiple sites to work toward their GEDs long distance and use free Internet services,&uot; Bridgewater said. &uot;This way, people can go to the site where they feel most comfortable.&uot;

Actually, people from Concordia, Catahoula and Tensas parishes will be served by the grant, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Rep. John Cooksey, R-La., who announced the grant.