Paul Bunyan Communications has been awarded a $5.5 million State of Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband low-density pilot grant to serve areas of Angora, Alango, Balkan, Beatty, and Owens Townships in St Louis County.  The pink areas of the map are all the areas included in this grant.

The Low-Population Density Program will fund up to 75% of eligible project costs to help providers build out broadband infrastructure in some of the more remote or costly-to-serve areas of the state with the cooperative investing the remainder to expand its all-fiber optic network to these areas.  This project is estimated to cost $7,526,055, with the State of Minnesota’s Low-Population Density Program grant contributing $5,569,28, Paul Bunyan Communications investing $1,881,513, Angora Township $33,104, and Balkan Township $42,157.

The Angora, Alango, Beatty, and Owens Township areas are primarily between Cook and Britt along US Highway 53.

The Balkan Township project will reach nearly every home in Balkan Township which is north of Chisholm. It also includes several locations in the unorganized township west of Balkan-north, including those around Dewey and McCormack Lakes.

Paul Bunyan Communications expects to develop the expansion plans over the next 1-2 years and will contact locations along the upcoming expansion routes once those plans are finalized.  The project will be completed by the end of 2025.

Our offices will be closed on Tuesday, July 4 for the Independence Day Holiday.

As always, 24 hour emergency repair will be available.

Paul Bunyan Communications, Minnesota’s largest broadband cooperative, announced today plans for its growing 2025 Leadership Team. With an expanded structure, several promotions and additions to the team will allow for the continued success of the cooperative and
its focus on member service. It will empower their dedicated and talented employees, preserve cooperative culture, and take advantage of new technologies and opportunities for continued growth.

Several promotions of long-time management personnel will take place throughout 2024. Christie Turn will be promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Christie has served the cooperative in several customer service and operational leadership roles for 28 years, including the last ten years as Customer Service Manager. Rob St. Clair will be promoted to Chief Network Officer, overseeing Paul Bunyan’s expansive fiber network infrastructure, engineering and expansion. Rob has been with the cooperative 24 years, serving the last 17 as Network Operations Manager. Leo Anderson will be promoted to Chief Technology Officer. Leo’s technology leadership will continue to guide the cooperative’s innovation and technical services. Leo has been with Paul Bunyan 25 years, most recently serving as Technology Experience
Manager.

New to the team is Chad Bullock who will join the experienced group as Paul Bunyan Communications’ new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding current CEO Gary Johnson who intends to retire at the end of 2024. He’ll serve in the transitional role of Assistant General Manager throughout 2024. Chad is the current CEO of West Central Telephone Association, a broadband cooperative based in Sebeka, Minnesota. Chad has led West Central since 2015 and has been in the telecommunications and broadband industry for 30 years.

“The Board of Directors congratulates these dedicated managers as they are promoted to new C-Level leadership positions with our growing cooperative. And we are very pleased to welcome Mr. Bullock as our new CEO in 2025. This proactive expansion of our leadership team will provide a seamless transition, and create a number of new opportunities for employee advancement and leadership as we look forward to continued success for our cooperative and our members”, said Randy Frisk, Paul Bunyan Communications’ Board President.

Also retiring at the end of 2024 are current CFO Dave Schultz, and IT & Development Manager Steve Howard. More details about these retirements will be shared next year.

“We want to thank our retiring leaders, Gary, Dave, and Steve. Their decades of service and dedication to our cooperative and the impact they’ve had on the region we serve cannot be overstated. We look forward to celebrating their retirements with them when that time comes later next year.”

For aviation enthusiasts and anyone interested, we have added a Bemidji Air Traffic Channel to Paul Bunyan Television service!  You can find it on PBTV channels 297 or 797.  It is in high-definition and is available to all PBTV subscribers.

Paul Bunyan Communications, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Itasca County, and the Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Monday, June 26 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at King Elementary in Deer River as part of the Day of Connections.

This event will provide the opportunity to explore many community resources including free/reduced Internet service through the Affordable Connectivity Program, job opportunities, education, social services, and Leech Lake Tribal IDs with the $15 replacement fee waived for all attendees.  Transportation is available with pick up locations including Spring Lake Community Center, Inger Community Center, and Lone Eagle Center in Ball Club.  For more information on the Day of Connections call 218-328-8352.

The Affordable Connectivity Program will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program.

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to www.getinternet.gov to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at www.getinternet.gov, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

BYU-TV HD (channel 896) and Pursuit Channel HD (channel 576) have been added to Paul Bunyan Television Service.

Those who subscribe to main service and PBTV HD will get BYU-TV HD.  Those who subscribe to PBTV Sports and PBTV HD will get Pursuit Channel HD.

The 2023 Annual Business Meeting was held at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, May 24 in the Lakeside Rooms of the Sanford Center in Bemidji.

The meeting included a review of 2022 financial and operational results with presentations from Board President Randy Frisk, Chief Financial Officer Dave Schultz, and Chief Executive Officer Gary Johnson.  Also reviewed were the 2023 Director election, in which District 4 Director Brian Nicklason and District 6 Director Glenda Martin both ran unopposed.

An estimated crowd of over 4,000 attended the GigaZone Gaming Championship & TechXpo on Saturday, April 22 at the Sanford Center. The event featured free gaming, numerous gaming tournaments, over 35 technology exhibitors, door prizes, and special guest Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple.

This one of a kind regional gaming event showcases Paul Bunyan Communications’ IT and web development team which custom built and integrated much of the online technology and leverages the speed of the GigaZone one of the largest rural all-fiber optic Gigabit networks in the country. The entire event was run off a single residential GigaZone Internet connection.

Mathew Wagner of Duluth won the 6th annual GigaZone Gaming Championship and the top prize of $500.  Shawn Haines of Grand Forks secured second place and $400. A total of 76 of northern Minnesota’s best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players competed on the main stadium stage in the GigaZone Championship Arena.

In addition to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament, there was several other open tournaments including Fortnite, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Madden 23, and Overwatch 3v3, Rocket League 3vs3 plus high score competitions in Pac-Man, Galaga, and Donkey Kong.  There was also two tournaments for juniors 13 and Magic the Gathering Booster Drafts.

Official Results of the 2023 GigaZone Gaming Championship

“Wow.  When we first envisioned this event we wanted to grow it so we could have a true arena e-sports event.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would grow so fast and that we would have Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple join us.  It has been incredible to see the attendance and enthusiasm for the event! By adding the TechXpo, we were able to connect a wide variety of students and potential job seekers with schools and businesses that are utilizing the latest in technology every day right here in northern Minnesota. It was awesome to see so many people from all over come for the fun!” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager

“Our cooperative continues to expand one of the largest rural fiber gigabit networks in the country and that brings many advantages to our members.  The GigaZone provides extreme speed and low latency which are critical for the best online gaming experience and the GigaZone Gaming Championship & TechXpo showcases just that,” added Leo Anderson, Paul Bunyan Communications Technology Experience Manager.

“A huge shout out to our entire team for putting on one of the most unique events of this type in the country.  Thank you to all of the exhibitors that were a part of the first ever TechXpo and our local partners, we couldn’t do this without them. We’re already looking forward to next year!” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, the Sanford Center as well support from several regional and national partners.

For more information on the GigaZone Gaming Championship visit www.gigazonegaming.com

Paul Bunyan Communications is excited to announce the winners of the 7^th Pick-it March Mania Challenge.  A record 751 participants entered the free online contest to pick the winners of the college basketball tournament games for a chance to win a credit on a Paul Bunyan Communications account.

The top 10 finishers all won a credit on their Paul Bunyan Communications account.

1^st Place-         James Hess, Bemdiji                        $500 credit

2^nd Place-        Frank Kelsey, Bemidji                      $250 credit

3^rd Place-         Ronald Leraas, Hunter, ND            $100 credit

4^th Place-         Mike Kovacovich, Bemidji               $50 credit

5^th Place-         Ruth Kronlokken, Laporte               $50 credit

6^th Place-         Amber Larson, Bemidji                    $50 credit

7^th Place-         Randa Lundmark                               $50 credit

8^th Place-         Sarah Price                                          $50 credit

9^th Place-         Sandra Dudley, Bemidji                   $50 credit

10^th Place-       Jim Sackett, Bemidji                         $50 credit

Random Prize Drawing:

Eric Allen       (555th place)                                       $100 Credit

Last year we expanded our all-fiber optic network the GigaZone to areas of Britt, Cook, Nashwauk, Warba, and rural Littlefork/International Falls in the Pelland area.

If you or someone you know lives in any of these areas, check to see if your location is served by our cooperative, visit https://paulbunyan.net/gigazone/availability-map/ and make the switch to Paul Bunyan Communications!