Surf Broadband breaks ground on fiber-optic network to Mendota, Illinois

Fiber internet provider Surf Broadband Solutions marked the imminent arrival of fiber-optic internet services to Mendota, Ill., with a ceremonial groundbreaking event on Tuesday, June 28. Elected officials, Surf representatives, and community stakeholders gathered at the town’s entrance to celebrate.

Surf (www.surfbroadband.com) is a fiber internet company providing services to residents and businesses in the U.S. Great Lakes Region since 2010. Company office locations include La Porte and Elkhart, Ind., Byron Center, Mich., and Coal City and Rock Falls, Ill.

In June 2021, Bain Capital Credit, LP, acquired a majority stake in the company and committed significant growth capital to accelerate its fiber optic network expansion. Post Road Group, Surf’s previous majority shareholder, remains an investor alongside Bain Capital Credit to further capitalize the company’s growth plans.

For Surf employee Terry Barr, the Mendota, Ill. project is personal. Barr, a lifelong resident of Mendota, started Terry’s Computer Shack in 2009. He would often hear friends and neighbors talk about the need for reliable internet connectivity. As time has gone on, the need has only increased, especially in the age of work-from-home and e-learning.

“When I merged my company with Surf back in 2017, I was confident that my dream of helping the Mendota community obtain access to high-speed fiber internet was going to become a reality,” Barr said. “Today’s groundbreaking means more than just giving people the ability to ‘connect faster.’ It also signifies the start of expanded economic development opportunities and competitiveness for Mendota. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Surf CEO Gene Crusie remarked, “Surf has been serving customers in the Mendota region for over a decade through our wireless internet offerings. We are grateful to Terry for his vision and are excited to now bring the transformational technology of fiber internet to one of our hometowns.”

The entire project has been broken out into 12 phases which are in the very early stages of construction. Surf hopes to have a majority of the work finalized by the end of September 2022.