PANGAEA Internet Receives Grant from Polk County Economic and Tourism Development

Polk ETDC Grant Enables PANGAEA Internet to Serve Polk County Industrial Park

TRYON, NC / August 4, 2014 – PANGAEA Internet (PANGAEA), the leading commercial provider of high-speed fiber optic internet service for Polk and Rutherford Counties, has received a grant from the Polk County Economic and Tourism Development Commission (ETDC). The grant will enable PANGAEA to extend its “Speed of Light” fiber optic internet service throughout the Polk County Industrial Park in Columbus.

Pictured from left to right:  Ted Owens, Chair, Polk County Board of Commissioners; Ron Walters, Executive Director, PANGAEA Internet; and Ambrose Mills, Chair, Polk County Economic & Tourism Development Commission.

The extension of service will be available to Wayne Wire Die Co., Timken Co., Polk Vocational Services, and Waste Industries (formerly All Bright Sanitation), providing nearly 150 employees of these companies with high speed and reliable internet access. “We are excited about extending service to the Industrial Park and enhancing the economic development potential of Polk County,” said PANGAEA Executive Director Ron Walters. “We really appreciate this grant from ETDC.”

The grant will be used to defray the costs of installing fiber optic cable and extending service to the Industrial Park. “Offsetting the expense of installation removes a hurdle that companies in the Industrial Park would have faced in order to obtain fiber optic internet access,” according to Walters. “Now, these businesses will be able to cost effectively upgrade their operations and serve their customers more efficiently.”