Palmyra, Virginia — Firefly Fiber BroadbandSM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), reached a pivotal milestone this month of 10,000 customers connected to its world-class, gigabit fiber broadband. A celebration was held at a warehouse near Firefly’s headquarters with their Board of Directors, local and state elected officials, contractors, lenders, and business partners who have been critical to the company’s success.
Local Fluvanna leaders Mike Sheridan and George Goin welcomed the guests. Speakers at the celebration included Delegate Lee Ware, House of Representatives for the 65th District, Evan Feinman, Chief Broadband Advisor for Governor Ralph S. Northam, and Jonathan Chambers, Partner for Conexon. Gary Wood, Firefly President, and CEO Gary Wood gave the closing remarks.
On reaching this milestone, Firefly President and CEO, Gary Wood, concludes, “Firefly is excited to have grown from 0 to 10,000 subscribers in 33 months. Our entire team of CVEC and Firefly employees, our design partner Conexon, and our fiber contractor S&N Communications have been instrumental in crossing this hurdle so quickly. We want to take a moment to celebrate the success and to thank our subscribers, but we have no intention of slowing down when there are so many more rural locations in central Virginia without a broadband option. We pledge to keep moving as fast as we can until we achieve universal service in our area.”
At the conclusion of the speaking program, Firefly officials presented an oversized check in the amount of $30,000 to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank (BRAFB) as part of their “RISE to the Challenge” ceremony. Firefly donated $10,000 to the food bank, which serves multiple counties throughout the internet service provider’s service area. S&N Communications, Inc., their fiber construction partner, matched Firefly’s donation in the amount of $10,000. CoBank, a lender for Firefly, also matched the donation in the amount of $10,000 as part of its Sharing Success Program. According to the BRAFB, one dollar provides four meals for those in need. The donation of $30,000 will supply over 120,000 meals to the local community.
CVEC and Firefly are accelerating their efforts to make broadband service available to every CVEC member and are on schedule to complete the major fiber construction on that project by the summer of 2022. However, Firefly will not slow down then, rather the team is shifting into a new gear and pressing on the accelerator as they plan for bold new growth in the coming years. Significant new growth and expansion are planned for the next decade and beyond. This expansion includes the much-anticipated Regional Internet Service Expansion (RISE) project, a partnership with 13 counties designed to bridge the digital divide and bring Firefly’s lightning-fast internet to unserved and underserved homes and businesses in rural areas throughout central Virginia.
Dennis Reece, Firefly’s General Manager noted this milestone as one of many to come. “In my tenure here at Firefly, I have seen remarkable growth in this young company, and I know there will be many more milestones to celebrate. Our current project builds continue to ramp up and we highly anticipate significant growth in the coming years.”
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About Firefly Fiber Broadband
Headquartered in Palmyra, VA, Firefly Fiber BroadbandSM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. Firefly offers lightning-fast internet via fiber to the premise that is reliable and priced fairly with no hidden equipment costs or special introductory pricing that increases the base cost of phone or internet later. Firefly has no contracts, no data caps, or slowdowns, and offers symmetrical upload and download speeds. Firefly Light offers 100 Mbps for $49.99; Firefly Flash offers 1 Gbps for $79.99, and Firefly Voice is $34.99 with a $5.00 discount when bundled with the internet. For more information, visit www.fireflyva.com/rise.
About S&N Communications
Headquartered in Louisa, VA, S&N Communications, Inc., is a leader in providing reliable and cost-effective construction, site assessment and acquisition, tower construction and maintenance, logistics, and inventory management services to their customers. S&N is committed to propelling the wired and wireless communications, gas, and electric industries into the future.
About CoBank
CoBank is a $158 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing, and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water, and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 75,000 farmers, ranchers, and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure, and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and maintains an international representative office in Singapore.
Press Inquiries:
Melissa Gay, 434-263-7638 (mgay@mycvec.com)
Kelly Mance, 434-373-7853 (kmance@fireflyva.com)
