JB Nets Expanding Broadband Services with Help from OVRDC Revolving Loan Funds
Local internet provider company JB Nets has been in business since 2002, serving mostly Gallia County, but their service footprint is expanding with a recent ribbon-cutting to celebrate their outreach to serve additional areas of Gallia and Lawrence Counties. Lawrence County officials, company team members and representatives were on hand to help.
JB Nets recently reached out to OVRDC, applied for the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program and secured loan funds to help with the expansion. JB Nets currently employs 20 people, deploying both Wireless and Fiber to the Home, as well as Voice-over IP services. The new buildouts will increase coverage and work is expected to be completed over the next 4 years.
When complete, the expanded coverage area will include Lawrence and Gallia County with specific coverage areas in Pedro, Getaway, Decatur, and the Pine Creek area for Lawrence County. In Gallia County JB Nets is adding service to Mercerville, Vinton, and Spring Valley.
We asked JB Nets Chief Operations Officer Candi Denney to describe what it’s like to work with OVRDC and obtain small-business funding through the Revolving Loan Fund Program (RLF).
“Working with OVRDC has been a great experience thus far, [because] without OVRDC and their Revolving Loan Funds we would not have been able to build out as quickly as we have. This has allowed expansion into new service areas and maintenance of the current infrastructure to build a reliable and stable connection to our customers. OVRDC staff was great through the whole process and very friendly. The application process was smooth and simple. We are excited for all the things happening with broadband and can’t wait to be able to expand to new areas and help out the community,” said Candi Denney, JB Nets Chief Operating Officer.
The RLF program started with a capitalization from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and is designed to lend gap financing and loan support to private-for-profit businesses. Principal repayments and interest earned from the lending of the funds is reinvested in the region and utilized for additional loans. The funds revolve from one loan deal to the next future loan deal.
“Since the program started, we have loaned out $7,169,376.36 and leveraged a total investment of $52,928,680.34 in our region through this small business lending program. That’s a big impact. It means jobs in our region are retained, created, and expanded through RLF program support for small businesses, which generate the majority of jobs in the U.S.,” said Kerri Richardson, OVRDC RLF program specialist.
For more information on how to apply go online, call 740-947-2853, or email krichardson@ovrdc.org.
