Ben Lomand Connect has a new man at the top, but while his title is new, he is definitely not new to the company.
Greg Smartt, the new general manager/chief executive officer for the rural communications company that services White and surrounding counties, has spent 37 years working his way up from construction crew to the top seat in the house.
“I’ve been fortunate to see our company from so many points of view,” Smartt said. “From being on the construction crew and a lineman to various management positions, I have seen first-hand how Ben Lomand Connect works to make areas like White County grow and thrive through our communication services. I’ve been that person who was out working on frozen lines late at night in a bucket truck or strapping on spurs to climb a pole after a thunderstorm, so I know the work that our team members do to keep people connected.”
Smartt spent the past five years as Ben Lomand Connect’s broadband operations manager, and, for the 10 years prior to that, he served as outside plant manager.
“The last five years have allowed me to work with every department at Ben Lomand Connect to help secure grants for areas that national and regional providers have underserved,” Smartt said. “To be a part of bringing some amount of hope for families and businesses is the stuff that warms my heart and makes me extra proud of working at Ben Lomand Connect.”
Some of the hope that Ben Lomand brought to families over the past year came in the form of providing internet to White County’s school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic that threatened to stall educational endeavors.
“We received a Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund grant last year that helped bring fiber to roughly 25 homes of school-age children,” Smartt explained. “We also worked with the White County government leadership to provide a Wi-Fi hotspot at the White County Sports Complex to give families 24/7 access to the internet for school work.”
Additionally, the company created a Wi-Fi hotspot at their Sparta office, and, according to Smartt, both hotpots are still operational and are free and open to the public.
“You do not have to be a customer of Ben Lomand Connect to access those networks,” he said. “We just wanted to do all we could to help our counties during this difficult time.”
Ben Lomand is also leading the industry in using fiber to get broadband signals to homes and businesses in the county, making White County an official “Gig count,” one that offers service at the rate of 1,000 Mbps to its customers.
“Fiber is a game-changer for the community,” Smartt said. “We are also proud to have been a part of a determining factor in businesses locating in our White County area.”
He went on to say the company has heard fantastic stories about how the fiber has made a difference in how people do business.
“White County Chamber of Commerce Director Marvin Bullock would be the first to tell you it has made a difference in recruiting and maintaining business within the county,” Smartt said.
Smartt added that the fiber service is also bringing new residents to the area, saying that a study by the Fiber to the Home Council of Americas found homes that could take advantage of Gig service saw more than a 7 percent increase in sale prices.
“When it comes to homes, we have found Ben Lomand Connect on so many realtor checklists who love to show a house within the Ben Lomand Fiber area,” Smartt said. “Our Ben Lomand fiber directly impacts business and quality of life in every community we serve.”
A little over 70 percent of rural White County now has fiber coverage, and Smartt said the company looks to be at over 75 percent coverage in the next 12 months. He also said the city of Sparta, which is in the company’s non-cooperative area, is expected to be at 50 percent fiber coverage by the end of the year.
“Our hope is that every customer within our footprint will have access to Ben Lomand Fiber in less than five years,” Smartt said.
Smartt stated the company is working tirelessly on the Doyle exchange, and, when that happens, the six-year fiber deployment plan for the cooperative area, set forward by the board of directors in late 2016, will be complete. “
Smartt attributed a lot of Ben Lomand’s success within White County to the leadership that takes place at the local level.
“White County is very fortunate to have the leadership it does at multiple levels throughout Ben Lomand Connect,” Smartt said. “Cain Rogers and Randall Day bring a vast amount of life and business experience to our board of directors as they strategically chart our company’s direction. District Manager David Vaughn has served White County faithfully for decades and provides so much insight and information to our management team and office.”
Smartt also gave credit to every employee contributing to the success of the company and the satisfaction of its customers.
“From installers, fiber splicers to customer service representatives, Sparta has top-notch people serving this area,” he said.
Smartt said he anticipates the need for more and more broadband will continue to grow within homes and businesses in the next five to 10 years.
“I see us continuing to invest in infrastructure to provide our customers the best broadband experience,” he claimed. “Ben Lomand Connect wants to do all we can to allow White Countians to live, work and play in one of the most beautiful areas of Tennessee.”
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