LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton and other officials and business leaders joined executives from fiber-optic broadband provider Kinetic by Windstream at the University of Kentucky’s Coldstream Research Campus to celebrate the company’s new regional headquarters.
“Kinetic has done it again,” Gov. Andy Beshear said at Kinetic’s festive ribbon-cutting event attended by more than 100 spectators. “First, the company announces it’s the nation’s largest 8-gigabit internet provider. That’s a tremendous amount of bandwidth. And now this national leader is inaugurating its regional headquarters here at this 735-acre hub of innovation and creativity.”
“I see Kentucky, with Kinetic’s leadership and our bluegrass can-do spirit, poised to be at the forefront of digital innovation,” Beshear added.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said: “This is a great day for Lexington. Kinetic has made our city’s dynamic Coldstream Research Campus its regional headquarters. The company is already a leading provider of ultrafast fiber internet in Lexington. And this brand-new regional headquarters further shows its commitment to Lexington. I look forward to many more good things as Kinetic uses its high-tech expertise and business ingenuity to improve life further and drive growth in this great city.”
“I can’t tell you how proud we are to have this beautiful new regional headquarters located at this important technological research and business campus,” Windstream President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Thomas said at the event.
“Our 30,000-square-foot, technologically advanced facility is designed to be a comfortable, durable and aesthetically pleasing environment for employees to work, learn, innovate and thrive,” he said.
Eight-gigabit internet service can download and upload up to 8,000 megabits a second. The median download speed in Kentucky is about 180 megabits a second, and the median upload speed is about 23 megabits a second, Ookla’s Speedtest indicates. In Lexington, the median download–upload speeds are about 203 megabits a second and about 33 megabits a second, Ookla indicates.
“Kinetic has proven it’s dedicated to Lexington and the Bluegrass region,” Commerce Lexington President and CEO Robert Quick said. “Locating its regional headquarters here exemplifies its commitment to flourishing communities and greater economic development initiatives.”
Kinetic’s regional headquarters, at 932 Citation Boulevard, is a company center of excellence, providing leadership, best practices, research and employee training, especially for Kinetic’s technical workforce. Technicians are trained on active network elements, the company’s advanced fiber optic systems, and how to deliver service that provides a best-in-class customer experience.
The facility has an outdoor working aloft training area and indoor facilities with active service delivered to various housing facades. Technicians learn and practice technical skills needed to install and maintain service from the network all the way to home and business routers.
The sustainable and accessible facility, with automatic lighting and water-flow reduction, also makes efficient use of its 80 office workspaces. Many of the workspaces are reserved for visiting employees coming to Lexington for training and to collaborate with other workgroups.
Kinetic is ramping up to employ 90 people in the building.
The ceremony opened with a “Call to Post,” played on a fanfare trumpet by a trumpeter wearing traditional equine racing attire.
Employees at the event also demonstrated fiber splicing and installation and pole-climbing techniques.
