Visionary Broadband is Serious about Serving Rural Communities

Brian WorthenVisionary Broadband is, always has been and always will be serious about serving rural communities in the American West. As CEO of Visionary, I find myself humbled and excited when I can make an announcement that drives home that point. The recent acquisition of Aristata Communications by Visionary does just that.
Adding Aristata to our portfolio is one more data point that proves we at Visionary mean it when we say we have a proven record of delivering reliable and affordable broadband to some of the most remote areas in the United States.
Visionary and Aristata have a long-standing relationship. When Carlin Walsh and I first met to discuss this opportunity, our conversation centered on community investment and reliability. We talked about our aligned missions and the strengths of our respective teams. We saw potential to build additional fiber in Aristata communities, and opportunities to maximize rural fiber builds through grants. It was an exciting idea.
I am even more excited to let you know the friendly Aristata staff will remain on the team and continue to answer your calls. Your current service and the way you access your account, pay your bills and call for Tech and Customer Care support will not change. You will continue to see the Aristata name in your community.
I have asked my Aristata+Visionary team to spend the next 90 days improving reliability on the network. I hope our focus on reliability shows our commitment to you as customers.
Visionary has nearby operations in Gunnison and soon in Canon City, which adds to our network stability, installation capabilities and troubleshooting bandwidth.
What does this mean to you? It means more employees to make sure the network is running – day and night, weekends and holidays. You demand seamless service and we will provide it.
I am excited to also announce a successful award from the Colorado Broadband Office for fiber builds from Americus to Nathrop. This award will bring fiber to more than 1,300 homes around Buena Vista including the Game Trail and Trails West subdivisions.
Visionary was born in Gillette, Wyoming, in 1994 in a basement with five dialup phone lines. We understand rural broadband because we are from rural towns ourselves. Today, we serve the rural West in Montana, Wyoming and mountainous Colorado. In fact, last month we finished a fiber and wireless build in Marble, Colorado. Last year, we brought fiber through the town of Walden. That’s just how passionate Visionary is about serving rural communities.
I appreciate your business, and I would ask you to stay tuned to our improvements. I want the team to show you how serious we are about our rural roots and about providing reliable rural broadband.

Brian Worthen

Brian Worthen
CEO
Visionary Broadband
Brian Worthen

Brian Worthen

Brian Worthen, CEO of Visionary Broadband

Ask Brian Worthen what it takes to run a successful company and he’ll answer three things: A passion for the challenge, a love for the place you do it, and respect for your employees and customers.

Brian, the CEO of Visionary Broadband, ticks all those boxes.

Put another way, Brian has no desire for the corner office in New York or Los Angeles. He doesn’t want a view or an urban skyline. Instead, he’ll take vistas of the eastern Wyoming prairie, or the towering cliffs and mountains of the American West.

The rural west is where he grew up, where he raised his family, and where he is growing Visionary Broadband, making it one of the premier broadband providers in all of rural America.

Armed with a degree in small business management from the University of Wyoming, Brian joined the founders of Visionary in 2001 and immediately started working on a new Internet product – broadband.

In 2004, a white-board session at the office produced a eureka moment. Under Brian’s leadership, Visionary was soon wholesaling service to ISPs in Montana, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington state.

By 2014 Worthen was running a company that was selling services to 220 wholesale customers—ISPs, wireless ISPs, CLECs, small telephone companies, small cable companies, utilities, and national carriers.

Virtually all of his customers lived and worked in small towns in the western United States. Small towns much like Orofino, Idaho, where Brian grew up.

It’s easy, in communities like that, to get to know your customers and your employees and be responsive to their needs.  You see, in rural America, you bump into customers and employees at the gas station, at the grocery store and at sports events.

Work is important and Brian is rightly proud of Visionary, and the team he put together to build the company.

When time permits, he can be found road racing cars on a closed course, or skiing, or even paintballing. Or perhaps reading. His favorite business books: Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution, by Mark Puls and How to Castrate a Bull, by Dave Hitz.

He also travels. One of his favorite adventures happened on an overnight train he and his wife took from Singapore to Bangkok. “At one point in the evening,” he said, “a man came by and asked us to stand. He proceeded to fold our seats into beds. At each stop, vendors would come up and down the cars and offer eggs, chicken and other food and drink. I felt like I was crossing the Plains on the trains of the 1800s.”

The people who built those railroads nearly two centuries ago were really the forerunners of the people who today build internet infrastructure across the Plains and mountains of the West. Much like the men and women who work for Brian Worthen at Visionary Broadband.

Brian can be reached at BWorthen@VisionaryBroadband.com. Learn more about Visionary at vcn.com.

 

Aristata Communications - a Visionary Broadband company
Friendly reminder: Aristata Communications is now a Visionary Broadband Company. Your credit card charges and ACH payments for Internet services will state Visionary Broadband.
Aristata Communications
We bridge the digital divide in the Central Rockies while transforming the relationships we have with our communities and customers to create a lasting, positive impact for generations ahead.

Please fill out the following form, then click Send.

Aristata Communications

Additional Information

  • Aristata Communications Voice included
  • Unlimited local and long-distance calling to the US and Canada
  • Over 35+ calling features, like voicemail, call waiting, and call forwarding
  • Add a second line for $29.95* per month
* Pricing does not include taxes. surcharges, and fees, which are subject to change