Lamoille FiberNet — Who’s making it happen?
Although Lamoille FiberNet is the smallest of Vermont’s 10 Communications Union Districts, its leadership team has a powerhouse of skills!
Our Executive Director:
Lamoille County resident Lisa Birmingham has over 20 years of telecommunications and senior management experience, including planning and executing rural broadband and digital equity projects. After serving as Vice President of External and Government Affairs for Comcast in multiple Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions, she returned to Stowe, Vermont, where she and her husband raised their two children. In addition to her corporate and legal experience, Lisa is an engaged community member. She served on the District 5 Environmental Commission and Vermont Environmental Board, and currently serves on the board of The Manor (Morrisville) and Vermont Academy (Saxtons River).
“We are incredibly fortunate to be able to have Lisa on our team,” said Jeff Tilton, chair of the governing board of Lamoille FiberNet CUD. “She has years of expertise with major capital projects in a highly regulated telecom environment and she also has extensive experience in collaborating with state and local governments, nonprofits and citizen groups to expand broadband access and adoption.
Lisa originally joined Lamoille FiberNet’s staff as a part-time Grant Coordinator and expanded her role as Lamoille FiberNet’s needs expanded. When Lamoille FiberNet’s executive director resigned in early 2023, the governing board immediately turned to Lisa. “By then, Lamoille FiberNet had momentum and bringing broadband to chronically unserved areas was within reach,” she said. “I wanted to help see it through.”
Our Construction Project Engineer:
Fabian Bourgeois, a native Vermonter, also brings far-ranging experience in the telecom industry to Lamoille FiberNet. With a background in electrical engineering, Fabian has been the project and construction engineer and manager for Slic and Telco in New York, Tekmark Global Solutions in New Jersey, and Fairpoint and Vermont Telecommunications Authority in Vermont.
In his initial work with the CUD, Fabian is assisting with the planning, preparations and regulatory work, and he will also oversee the network construction and deployment of fiber.
“We informally call our negotiating team ‘Team Fabian’,” said Randy Tomlin, Elmore’s representative on the board and the chair of Lamoille FiberNet’s Partnership Task Force. “Fabian is familiar with the whole process involved in preparing for, building, operating and maintaining a broadband network. We are fortunate to have him on our staff. Fabian is the person to contact to see if your address will be included in the first phase of our project,” Tomlin continued. “Lamoille businesses and residents can email Fabian at FBourgeois@lamoillefiber.net.”
In addition, Lamoille FiberNet’s Governing Board members draw on a wide range of expertise, from years of experience in building fiber networks, to various aspects of Information technology, to multi-entity contract negotiations, to business administration, to marketing, to financial management.
Our mission is to prioritize access to unserved and underserved addresses to symmetrical, high-speed, and affordable internet service—as soon as possible. Our vision is that every home and business in our territory will be connected to fast, reliable internet service. See http://www.lamoillefiber.net for more information.
