State Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) visited the Kinetic Baldwin Training Facility recently to learn more about the company’s work in the county. More than 300 employees a year from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North and South Carolina train at the facility.
“It was a pleasure to welcome Sen. Hatchett,” said Michael Foor, president of state operations in Georgia. “We were pleased to show him what Kinetic is doing in workforce development and also fiber expansion across the region. When we say, ‘High Speed for Here,’ we mean places like Cornelia, Clarkesville, Alto, Baldwin, Batesville, Demorest and Mount Airy.”
Approximately 19,000 homes and businesses, or 61 percent of Habersham County, qualify for gig speed internet from Kinetic. The company will begin work later this year to bring fiber to another 3,135 locations in the county.
Funding for that work comes from the State of Georgia’s State Fiscal Recovery Funds-Broadband Infrastructure Program to distribute federal American Rescue Plan Act funds of about $5.7 million, coupled with the financial contribution from Kinetic of another $3.2 million.
Kinetic’s Habersham County expansion was announced earlier this year as part of larger $300 million investment in communities across Georgia.
The entire new fiber project will take approximately two years to complete.