Wyoming Business Council hires broadband manager

Wyoming Business Council hires broadband manager Main Photo

7 Jan 2020


The Wyoming Business Council has hired Ryan Kudera, of Baggs, to fill its vacant broadband manager position. He starts Jan. 13.

Kudera has lived in Baggs for 17 years, serving as the central office technician for Dubois Telephone for seven of those years. He also worked as the electronics technician for TriState Generation and Transmission.
 
He has a wide variety of experience in his more than two decades of experience in the industry, from working with small, local telecommunications firms to international backhaul companies and everything in between.

Kudera was directly involved in bringing broadband to the Little Snake River Valley in south-central Wyoming.

“That was a meaningful experience, and the offerings for customers here are now quite advanced,” Kudera said. “I look forward to applying that experience to the rest of the state.”

Kudera said he moved to Baggs because he wanted to live somewhere he could make a difference. His new role as the Business Council’s broadband manager is an extension of that desire.

Affordable access to reliable broadband is imperative to protecting rural culture, Kudera explained.

“It levels the playing field,” he said. “Whether it’s a hobbyist selling crafts online or a Fortune 500 CEO operating in northwest Wyoming, broadband connectivity allows that flexibility for Wyomingites to earn a living where they want to live.”

Broadband also allows Wyoming’s traditional industries to operate more efficiently, whether it’s a rancher operating an irrigation system from a cellphone or an oil and gas executive analyzing live data from wells in the Shirley Basin.

“This is about ensuring our Wyoming lifestyle,” Kudera said. “I want to use broadband to enhance what we already have.”

State legislation enabled the Business Council to create a community grant program to help build broadband infrastructure in rural areas and form an advisory council to ensure Wyoming is a leader in the national conversation around rural broadband.

For more information about the Business Council’s broadband program, click here.