By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
United Fiber, a subsidiary of United Electric Cooperatives which began in Savannah, is now expanding into St. Joseph.
Niki Dalton with United Fiber says the company will likely spend more than $50 million to offer high-speed fiber broadband to 36,000 homes in St. Joseph.
“We’ve had a lot of demand and we’ve built out a lot of other communities,” Dalton tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “We are ready to take on this big of a project.”
United Fiber currently has 26,000 customers, both residential and business in 40 communities.
Dalton says United Fiber had been moving into fringes of the St. Joseph area for a while.
“Mind you, we already have Country Club built out,” Dalton says. “We’ve already got some other areas built out, but all of those areas that we are building will encompass around 36,000 homes.”
United Fiber will establish an office in St. Joseph. It has offices in Savannah, Maryville, Smithville, Cameron, and Excelsior Springs.
Dalton says United Fiber will add 10 jobs and perhaps more in the future.
“It definitely could be more, because as we expanded for the market and our customer growth increases, so will the need for jobs,” according to Dalton. “So, I foresee probably customer service workers, installers, maybe sales, more marketing.”
United Fiber began in Savannha in 2013, serving members of the United Electric Cooperative, which has been operating in northwest Missouri for more than 80 years. United Fiber offers high-speed Internet, TV, and phone services. This project greatly expands the company.
“It would be our largest project we’ve ever undertaken,” Dalton says. “But we think we’re ready to do it, because we have lots of experience with building out other communities and we’re ready to take on something of that size.”