Congressman Tracey Mann Meets Nex-Tech: How it happened

On Tuesday, 19th December 2023, our leadership team met with Tracey Mann, the congressman representing all counties within Nex-Tech’s footprint in the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to this engagement, there was lots of preparation to do: setting up a tour of our Hays facilities, inviting our leadership team and other stakeholders, scheduling a mutually convenient time for all, developing an agenda of discussion, and more. It’s not routine to get a visit from a congressional lawmaker, who has a vote on many laws affecting broadband providers like Nex-Tech. So we had to maximize it. More so, this engagement was anticipated as an opportunity for us to speak for ourselves, and directly to the congressman on how he can support the economic development efforts of Nex-Tech in northwest Kansas.

We rallied our team and got ready:

• Mike Pollock, Chief Operating Officer (COO)
• Justin McClung, Director of Operational Support Services
• Alan Reiter, Director of Technology
• Scott Roe, Product and Project Team Manager
• Kodi Garrison, Administrative Assistant
• Chantelle Simon, Internship Coordinator, Nex-Generation Round Up for Youth Inc.
• Friday Otuya, Community Engagement Specialist

We began the engagement at our downtown Hays office, where we all introduced ourselves to the congressman and exchanged pleasantries. Our Director of Operational Support Services, Justin McClung, then led the tour of the facility. Justin answered questions from the congressman about the growth and expansion of Nex-Tech services through the years and our plans for the future. Next, the team drove to our Vine Street facility where our COO, Mike Pollock, led the tour. Mike walked the congressman through our partnership programs with NCK Tech to engage the youths, as well as our fiber deployment in the cities of Quinter, Salina, and other areas. Jacque Beckman, the Executive Director of Nex-Generation Round Up for Youth Inc. (Nex-Gen), a leading youth development organization in northwest Kansas, was represented by Chantelle Simon, the organization’s Internship Coordinator. The congressman listened closely as Chantelle gave an update on the efforts of Nex-Gen in helping young people remain and return to northwest Kansas. Allan Reiter, our Director of Technology, responded to questions on cybersecurity and the resilience of the Nex-Tech network.

On his part, the congressman expressed his excitement at the opportunity to see and hear from one of the leading stakeholders in western Kansas. He praised Nex-Tech for completing fiber builds in Quinter and many parts of Salina. He assured our team that western Kansas remains his top priority in Washington D.C. and he will support all efforts to promote the development of the region.

We are excited to be able to interact and share our priorities with Congressman Tracey Mann. We hope that federal policies will continue to support our efforts to drive and promote rural prosperity.