The Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce celebrated Kosciusko Connect, Kosciusko REMC’s broadband internet service, having more than 1,000 customers with a ribbon-cutting on Thursday, April 28, at the KREMC’s building at 370 S. 250E, Warsaw. From left: Chamber Member Relations Manager Scott Wiley and Ambassadors Shawn Brown, Tracy Speigle, Doug Hanes, David Schmidt and Ben Snyder, Kosciusko Connect Fiber Optic Technician Adam Churchill, Kosciusko Connect Dispatcher Wendy Salgado, KREMC Engineering and Operations Manager Jeff Moore, KREMC Executive Assistant and Human Resources Manager Vicky Patterson, KREMC and Kosciusko Connect President and CEO Kurt Carver, KREMC and Kosciusko Connect Vice President of Technology and Broadband Curt Barkey, KREMC Manager of Member Services Stephanie Scott, KREMC CFO Tim Landrigan, Chamber Ambassador Matthew Bochard, Kosciusko Connect Broadband Supervisor Rich Cinninger and Chamber Ambassadors Tammy Smith, Corbin Holtsberry, Scott Clay and Heather Lardino and President and CEO Rob Parker. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — More than 1,000 customers in rural parts of Kosciusko County now have access to broadband internet via Kosciusko Connect.

The service provided by Kosciusko REMC to its customers since December 2021 has reached that achievement. The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce celebrated that fact with a ribbon-cutting at KREMC, 370 S. 250E, Warsaw, on Thursday, April 28.

In a prepared statement provided to media members Thursday, KREMC and Kosciusko Connect President and CEO Kurt Carver said that he’s “proud of our employees and contractors for their dedication and hard work, which has helped us reach this milestone so quickly.”

He noted that Kosciusko Connect aims to allow all of KREMC’s 18,500 members to have internet if they choose to by December 2023.

The company is working in five zones in the county to set up the internet, with members in Zone 1 having access now if they so choose and Zone 2 opening up soon. To see a full map of the zones, people may click here.

Carver told media that members in the southern portion of Zone 1 in the southeastern part of the county have accounted for the most interest so far.

“The southeast part of the county, they didn’t have as many options, so there was a lot of interest there,” he said.

Carver said the project started after a feasibility study found that KREMC customers desired the service.

“Our members wanted this. The need was there, and it’s our responsibility to provide for our members,” he said.

Kosciusko Connect recently received a state grant to help provide internet.

“It’s the Next Level Connections (Broadband) Grant that the state puts out through OCRA (the state Office of Rural and Community Affairs), so that was $2 million in change and that was for unbuilt areas, so that grant was really focusing on the southern part of our buildout,” said KREMC and Kosciusko Connect Vice President of Technology and Broadband Curt Barkey. “So that’ll help fund construction drops, zone installs, the whole process.”

“We’re hoping to hit 4,000 members (with internet) by the end of this year,” added Carver.