Nex-Tech Blog

Technical education is perhaps one of the shortest routes to meeting the workforce needs of rural communities.

I was recently at the Legislative Coffee organized by the Hays Chamber of Commerce, where I engaged with state legislators representing the Hays area.

We recently connected all towns within our cooperative footprint to fiber technology. Indeed, we have come a long way since 1996 when we deployed the first fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Hill City (KS) becoming the first in the nation to do so. Today, we currently serve scores of communities with FTTH spread over 6,000 square miles – that’s about half the size of the nation of Belgium!

Recently, I attended two national engagements: the Economic Leadership Conference in Phoenix, AZ; and the NTCA Rural Telecom Industry Meeting & EXPO (RTIME) in Tampa, FL. Both engagements revealed new insights into the nexus between rural broadband and rural economic development.

Our team was at the Legislative Day of the Kansas Economic Developers Alliance (KEDA) held at the Kansas Legislature in Topeka recently. This is the second engagement we have had in Topeka this year (recall the CCK engagement last week).

Earlier this week, the Nex-Tech team engaged the Kansas State Governor, Laura Kelly, and several state legislators at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, KS. The team was part of the annual capitol delegation of rural broadband providers across Kansas under the Communications Coalition of Kansas (CCK) umbrella.

While the cold January breeze blew across western Kansas, the dazzling sunshine gave verve to the day as I drove along I-70 from Hays to WaKeeney, KS. Today, this stretch of land seemed more enchanting than usual, especially while covered with snow. After a week of constant sub-zero temperatures, things were looking up. The weather had let up and it was the big day. The day we close with a new Nex-Tech Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) recipient.

It was late on Monday, 18th December 2023, when our team got an invitation to meet with the congressman representing all the Nex-Tech towns and counties in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Tracey Mann.