Inside INdiana Business is reporting that Tipmont REMC in Mongtomery County has announced the acquisition of Lafayette-based technology and fiber solutions provider Wintek Corp. The electric cooperative says the deal is part of its plan to offer fiber broadband service and it expects to announce the name of the service next spring.
Wintek’s 22 employees will join Tipmont at the start of the new year. Wintek Chief Executive Officer Travis Bailey will become vice president of information technology for the co-op, while co-owner and Chief Operating Officer Oliver Beers will take on the role of vice president of marketing and sales.
Tipmont says both entities have a long partnership dating back more than a decade.
“Wintek has used our poles for portions of their residential and business fiber network. Wintek has also consulted on Tipmont’s information technology systems and helped provide connectivity to various Tipmont resources, including our headquarters in Linden,” the cooperative said on its website. “The longer we worked with Wintek, the more we recognized how their expertise and knowledge of the fiber communications industry could immediately strengthen our ability to deliver state-of-the-art service. And, Wintek recognized Tipmont had the scale and human resources that they needed to fulfill our shared vision of solving the broadband gap in rural areas.”
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Tipmont says it plans to expand its team as dictated by future growth, but did not specify how many jobs could be added.