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 The
new office of the new fiber optic internet service is located on the
second floor of the Region’s Bank building on South Kickapoo Street
in Lincoln. To access the offices, go into the doors facing the bank
parking lot and that the elevator or stairs to the second floor.
From the elevator, follow the hallway all the way around to the end.
The new office is located on the right-hand side of the hallway.
I3 is currently busy installing fiber optic cable underground
throughout the city of Lincoln. While the installation is still
underway, the Lincoln office is now open and staffed to serve
customers and prospective customers.
Thursday morning those on hand representing I3
included the corporate CEO Paul Cronin, General Manager Demeion
Collins, Marketing Manager Darin Ford, Field Supervisor Jeff
Millburg, Community Sales Representative Kurtis Bozarth, Central
Sales Manager David Kuntz, and Customer Engagement and Public
Relations Specialist Janell Woolard.
Others on hand for the ceremony were Logan County Board member Kathy
Schmidt, Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch, Alderman Rick Hoefle, City Clerk
Peggy Bateman, Logan County Tourism Director Alice Roate, Lincoln
Economic Advancement and Development Director Andrea Runge, Annie
Coers with Tremont Bank Lincoln and New Holland Branches, Karen
Castelein and Nila Smith with Lincoln Daily News, and several other
occupants of the second floor of Regions Bank along with several
“satisfied customers” who have already signed up for I3 services in
Lincoln.
Jeff Millburg, Demeion Collins, Darin
Ford An intimate group of
representatives of the company, the city, and the county gathered
first behind the ribbon to address the guests to the event prior to
snipping the ribbon. The first person to speak was Demeion Collins,
“I3 is extremely proud to be here in Lincoln. It is something that
has been long awaited, we’ve been anticipating something like this
for three or four years now. We’re excited to be part of the
community and to show our customer service why we are different from
the competition. We’re proud to represent the community and we want
to be embedded.”
CEO Paul Cronin spoke next, saying first he really couldn’t top what
Collins had already said, but wanted to reiterate that the company
is excited to be in Lincoln and looking forward to becoming a part
of the community.
Kathy Schmidt was asked to speak on behalf of the
County Board. She said, “We are very happy to a new business come
into the city and the county.”
Mayor Welch spoke recalling his first meeting about
three years ago. “ Remember sitting down with these gentlemen about
three years ago and them saying they wanted to bring fiber optic
into town and I said, how can we get on the list? And about a year
later here they came to town.” Welch went on to say that while there
have been growing pains as there always will be when working with
infrastructure, the company has been very good to work with, very
responsive to issues and concerns. He added that I3 is establishing
a manned office in Lincoln which is something that is not offered by
other internet providers in the community. Welch said he felt that
was a key part of who the new company is and how they intend to be
part of the community.
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With the speeches concluded, the posed picture was
ready to be taken. All the guests who had not been behind the ribbon
to start were invited to join the group for that special photo.
When the photo was taken, everyone participated in
the countdown to the ribbon snip with Mr. Collins doing the honors
on behalf of I3 and the staff.
After the ribbon cutting, guests were encouraged to stay for a
casual lunch provided by I3 and an opportunity to visit with the
various company representatives on hand for the event.
A few weeks before the cutting ceremony Ford and Millburg talked
about the company and its growth in the last 12 to 15 years.
I3 Broadband originates out of the Pekin and Greater Peoria area.
The company was first known as Omni-Link and was small in structure.
While they were providing the best internet services available in
that area, the company saw a need for a better option for cable.
Omit Link started bringing fiber into the Peoria area in 2008.
Family Video saw the value of the work that had been done, and it
bought the company in 2010 and then it became ITV3. The company then
bought UC2B network in Champaign-Urbana in 2012. The company then
jumped to a small company several states away in Rhode island.
In 2020 the broadband fiberoptic projects returned to
Illinois and Missouri with upstarts in St. Charles, Mo and work
getting started in Northern Illinois and the Galesburg area.
Asked about local representation, Millburg said there are already
local people on the payroll. He pointed to Luke Doolin who has been
with the company since the first day in Lincoln practically. It was
also mentioned that there are local people being hired to work with
installations, and the local office will be manned.
Asked about placing calls to the company, Ford said calls will be
directed first to a call center in East Peoria, but calls will be
relayed to the Lincoln Office, where Doolin or other staff members
will be on hand to respond.
The plan is to have the Lincoln office open Monday through Friday
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition to selling a service, the company has plans to host
workshop type meetings that help educate the community of modern
internet and streaming television viewing. The goal is to make
internet in general more effective to the subscribers regardless of
what services they may use.
I3 plans to put out information in the future about events they will
host free to the community as a source of information and education
about internet and streaming in particular.
[Nila Smith]
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