“Meet them where they are” is a phrase typically used by teachers as a way to help meet a student’s emotional and academic needs, but Cookson Hills Connect has taken that term and added a more literal approach by meeting rural households and businesses where they are, geographically. It is well-known that rural Oklahomans have been left behind in terms of reliable internet choices, and Cookson Hills Connect, a subsidiary of Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, is solving this problem one subscriber at a time.

While only six months into the project, Cookson Hills Connect has already brought fiber to over 600 members and has over 1,000 service orders placed for new subscribers.

“In the 1930s and 1940s, the electric cooperatives were up for the challenge to meet the ever-growing needs of the rural areas by foraging the way to build out a robust electrical grid to those that seemed to have been forgotten.  And here we are once again, foraging the way with a robust fiber to the home broadband network to the areas that seem to have been forgotten once again. Our business structure doesn’t require us to meet the demands of investors. It allows us to meet the needs of rural Oklahomans. It’s about seeing a need and meeting that need.” said Juli Orme, CEO of Cookson Hills.

As the need for fast, reliable internet in rural Oklahoma becomes more critical with each passing day, Cookson Hills Connect plays an instrumental role in bridging the digital divide for Oklahomans through the commitment to “meet them where they are.”