March-2024 Cooperative Living-SEC - 12

COOPERATIVE FOCUS
Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities
Corporation is a nonprofi t based out of
South Boston, Va. Through a partnership
with Microsoft and its TechSpark
Initiative, the facility off ers coworking
spaces and brings together local nonprofi t
organizations from all over southern
Virginia to off er programs that develop
digital skills and entrepreneurial training.
Th ere are now 30 employees working
for MBC.
Some company highlights include
MBC being awarded $16 million in
2010 for a project to connect all K-12
schools in southern Virginia without
any already-existing fi ber connection.
" Th at was a big deal for the
communities, " Deriso explains.
But, says Deriso, he is most proud
of MBC's partnership with Microsoſt
and its TechSpark Initiative in 2019 that
helped launch the SOVA Innovation
Hub, a 15,000-square-foot two-story
building in downtown South Boston,
Va. - the fi rst new building built
downtown in over 40 years.
" Th e MBC team was growing and
'Before Broadband Was Cool'
MBC celebrates 20 years of fulfi lling a need for speed
by Laura Emery, Staff Writer
F
or the past two decades, MidAtlantic
Broadband Communities
Corporation, a nonprofi t based
out of South Boston, Va., has been
making great strides in securing southern
Virginia's future, one fi ber connection
at a time.
MBC provides high-speed
broadband connectivity through an
open-access, middle-mile fi ber network
that connects national carriers and
telecommunication service providers
- like AT&T, Verizon, Shentel,
Lumos, Cox, etc. - with healthcare
organizations, schools, libraries and
other businesses in rural communities.
10 * Cooperative Living * March 2024
MBC has a 2,300-mile network and
supports 233 cell towers.
Being at the helm of a company
that successfully changed the digital
landscape in southern Virginia and has
revenues of more than $17 million a
year, it's no wonder President & CEO
Tad Deriso was named to Virginia
Business' Virginia 500: Th e 2020
Power List, and in 2019, to its 50 Most
Infl uential Virginians list. " I'm not sure
how that happened, " he says, jokingly.
Th e company, by all standards, is
thriving. When MBC made its fi rst
customer connection in 2006, it had
only four employees on the payroll.
we needed to expand our offi ce space.
So I thought, 'Why don't we take a
leadership position and build our own
building that serves our expansion
needs but also helps our communities?
And what if we could get Microsoſt to
support new investments into programs
that can accelerate economic growth for
our communities in southern Virginia
through their philanthropic side?'
Yes, Microsoſt is a highly profi table
multi-trillion-dollar corporation, but
they care about giving back to their
communities and helping people achieve
more - and that tracks with us and
our mission, " Deriso explains.
Th e new facility off ers coworking
spaces and brings together local
nonprofi t organizations from all over
southern Virginia to off er programs that
develop digital skills and entrepreneurial
training.
MBC was also recently awarded a
co-opliving.com
PHOTOS BY JOHN GROTT
PHOTO COURTESY MBC
http://www.co-opliving.com
March-2024 Cooperative Living-SEC

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