Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to beautiful Oakwood Park here in uh in Cottage Grove. Uh and even though I'm sporting a a River Oaks cap with the golf uh many of you know that there's a beautiful disc golf course out here too that's uh welcoming tournaments and everything else. You really need to get out here sometime and and see that. But here today we're here to welcome Gateway Fiber to Cottage Grove community. And uh first of all, I want to recognize some of the besides the gateway people, some of the other folks that we we have here today. And we have uh uh Council Member Clawson, we have Representative Johnson, we have Commissioner Bigum, Representative Dipple, we've got the Strawberry Fest ambassadors, and uh I think I got everybody covered. Anybody that didn't cover, raise their hand. Okay. So, we welcome everybody here to uh to uh to see this grand ribbon cutting for Gateway Fiber. And uh what Gateway Fiber is all about is they're all about high-speed internet. And really today that's a a necessity. And uh Gateway has high-speed symmetrical uh fiber internet. And what that means is that the speeds up and the speeds down are actually the same where asymmetrical means that the speeds one way is is fast, the speed the other way is slow. So, and I know that's getting too technical for everybody, but uh yeah, you know, it's definitely good to have the options uh with the internet and um because we constantly are getting on that internet and it seems like we can hardly even put the the computer down anymore today, right? uh you know in terms of uh being on the internet and it's it's vital for individuals all the different residents and and very vital for businesses and things like that to to really do quality and uh work in the in the world today. So um oh and it it does support uh as I mentioned the economic development, housing development and and then uh also our residents. So um um so what uh what city did is we went out and got quotes from different companies to provide this service and it turns out that gateway uh really represented the greatest value we thought to to the city and uh so we asked them to come in and and put in the fiber and and again you know it it takes a lot to to go through neighborhoods and digging here and digging there to get that fiber in the ground. So, by doing it this way, we get uh you know, one company that's able to come in and uh and do that uh in in certain locations and as opposed to having you know, three or four different companies coming in and digging up your yards and so forth. So, uh uh that was a very much of a value and and also uh it turns out that Gateway said, "Hey, we'll we'll give you some free internet in some of your parks, too." So, that was a little added plus. So um let's see. I think I kind of covered, uh, so I I think I covered everything, but, uh, you know, thank you to everyone for for stopping by today, and I'm going to turn this or over over to to Lori Lavine to talk a little bit about the chamber and then we'll we'll pass it on from there. >> Good. Lori, >> good. Um, I'm Lori Lavine. I'm the president and CEO of the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce and Women in Business Organization. and on on behalf of the chamber and our chamber ambassadors and our chamber members. Um we want to welcome you all to Cottage Grove and we've got a plaque and a banner um that's going to go um with you um representing the chamber. So welcome and I'm going to pass this on then to Jim who's going to talk on behalf of Gateway. >> Thank you. >> I can hold on to >> Hi everybody. My name is Jim Beachch. I'm actually a resident here in Cottage Grove. Uh when I started with Gateway, they presented that Cottage Grove was a possibility and I thought this is going to be great. Uh what's really great is that, you know, on behalf of, you know, the chamber members that are here as well as the local politicians as well as our state representatives, what we bring to the table and what I've seen in the past couple of years that I've been with Gateway is that we're a people company. Uh we are looking to become members of the community. We get involved with charitable events. Uh looking to certainly get involved with Strawberry Fest and everything else that is Cottage Grove. I've lived here for 18 years of my life and I can tell you that the people in Cottage Grove, they're looking for a company that will actually treat them like the people that they want to be treated like. When you call us, you call our toll-free number, we do something unusual, we actually pick up the phone and say, "Hi, and one of those representatives are going to be based in Minnesota or Missouri or maybe even Massachusetts. So, you're going to get a um a real person to speak to. There's no press one for this and press two for that. simply call in, we answer the phone, we say hello, and we do whatever we can to try to make your experience with us the best possible. Uh, as was mentioned, this uh internet service that we're bringing is an option for residents. We also are incredible at providing commercial services. And if you live in a multifamily or multi-dwelling unit complex, we're there as well. I think what you'll find with Gateway and what we're most proud of is is the people feel. Uh, like I say, I've been here for just a couple of years. I've worked for some other companies throughout my career here in uh Minnesota and I can tell you I've never been more happy and more pleased to work for an organization such as this and I'm really looking forward to bringing it to my neighbors, my friends that live here in Cottage Grove. Thank you very much. >> Oh, >> all right. All right. Let's hope that these are sharp. Just like your fiber. >> There we are. >> Thank you. >> Invite everybody.