STAMFORD, Conn. — These stakeholders see rural America’s population is declining as a result of sluggish economic growth – for that reason, Frontier Communications, DISH, CoBank and The Weather Channel are collaborating on America’s Best Communities competition to reverse the trend and jump-start recovery in rural areas.

Launched several months ago, the competition had hundreds of applicants vying for the grand prize of $3 million to realize its economic development goals. In April, 50 quarterfinalists were named. Each community was awarded $50,000 to further its revitalization plans.

Among the 50 were several communities in this region. They are Fort Dodge, Iowa; Carbondale, DeKalb and Monmouth in Illinois; Angola, Greencastle, Jasper, Lafayette, La Porte, Madison, Richmond, Terre Haute, Valparaiso, Wabash and Westfield in Indiana; Imlay City and Three Rivers in Michigan; and Celina, Circleville, Medina, Portsmouth, Troy and Wilmington in Ohio.

Other communities on the list are located in Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

“One of the pillars of our business is local engagement,” said Dan Sullivan, Frontier area general manager for Indiana. “What better way to be involved than investing in our communities?”

More than 135 communities applied for the grants, he said. The 50 quarterfinalists now have six months to refine their plans to compete for the grand prize. In that time, they will each partner with a major corporation that will provide guidance and support throughout the next stage.

In early 2016, 15 semifinalists will be selected to attend the America’s Best Communities summit to present their strategies. Eight finalists will be awarded another $100,000 each to continue implementation of plans.

In April 2017, the winners will be announced. The winning community will receive $3 million, with $2 million for second place and $1 million for third.

Lafayette organizers believe they have a leg up on their competition with a “template for the future,” according to Paul Cramer, CEO of the Lafayette Family YMCA. He said their project will build on relationships already existing between the YMCA, Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana University Health and Junior Achievement.

The goal is to co-locate services provided by the four entities to enhance health, education, income and social responsibility for residents from birth through old age. “We’re so excited about this project,” Cramer said.

Located in northern Indiana, Lafayette’s population is about 70,000.

Medina hopes to use funding to revitalize and flip housing stock in its downtown area, according to Jonathan Mendel, the city’s community development director. The northern Ohio community is home to about 25,000 people.

“Our downtown is a real jewel, with all the services you need,” he said. “And there’s a strong market for housing at a certain price point.”

He added plans are in place, and still evolving with the help of public and private partnerships.

The northern Illinois community of DeKalb already has a lot going for it, according to Frank Roberts, president of ReNew DeKalb, a nonprofit revitalization group. The city is the home of Northern Illinois University and Kishwaukee College, a relatively new hospital and cancer treatment center, a new high school that’s listed as one of the best in the state and excellent access to transportation.

Now, Roberts said the community of about 44,000 needs input from the residents to determine what happens next.

“We have a list of projects, development that could be game-changing,” he said. “We have a lot of groundwork to do to identify some areas of focus.”

He said because of sports success at NIU, he was pleased to learn DeKalb would be partnered with ESPN as its corporate sponsor.