Recently, I was asked to post on why Core Fiber is important to me. In this situation, it was for an interested LinkedIn influencer, which I thought was an interesting way of screening their connections. Admittedly, this took me by surprise but I’d love to! Here is why Core Fiber is important to me:
My “why” can best be summed up by quoting the great Morrie Schwartz, “Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to the community that surrounds you and devote yourself to something that gives you meaning and purpose.” I first read Tuesdays with Morrie after losing my brother to CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in early 2021. This book moved me greatly, in both my personal and professional lives. The meaning and purpose that I feel from the effort of building Core Fiber Partners is my number one reason, and below is why:
Professionally, I’ve seen the need for rural internet from the front lines. Over decades, I’ve been leading teams building fiber internet into smaller communities that have been overlooked for years. I’ve always wondered why that was and now I know. Truthfully, it’s about profitability with scale, versus doing the right thing. What I love about Core Fiber is that it’s more about the meaning and purpose of changing smaller communities one at a time, with a next generation internet service.
Personally, I’ve seen the struggle myself, but only for a brief time (6 months) thankfully. My wife Dana and I, became empty nesters in 2019 and decided to downsize, and live more rurally. We lucked out on a property just on the edges of a densely populated county. We used to live in the middle of it, but given our rural roots and lifestyle, we looked beyond the urban areas. Trouble was, our quaint little dream home only had DSL internet, and I was leading a Fiber to the Home company at the time. There was no way that this service was going to work. So, I used my cell phone for everything, meetings, TV, email, social, etc.. Everything! If you’ve never done that, it sucks! Thankfully, I had the connections and the know-how to influence a large internet provider to build a better internet for us, and for our neighbors! So, my personal and professional experience is my second reason. I think that leveraging my skills and the protagonist in me; we can pull communities, small Internet Service Providers and others together to build a better internet for rural America.
With fiber optics infrastructure in town; community development scales, economic development spawns, people come together, local jobs are created and learning opportunities sprout. It’s a win/win for everyone, and that’s my final reason for why Core Fiber Partners is important to me.
