STRATA Connects Communities By: STRATA Networks
Justin Hansen describes growing up in the Uintah Basin, riding four-wheelers and
snowmobiling with his dad, like living in a Norman Rockwell painting. But he also grew up with a passion for information technology and computers.
“I was the 12-year-old kid taking WordPerfect classes instead of playing baseball or football,” he said.
Hansen graduated in 1996 and left his hometown to pursue his dream job because there were very few local technology jobs available.
Many Americans, including Hansen, share the dream of living wherever they want while still having access to the rest of the world. That dream is one of the reasons STRATA Networks was founded as a cooperative over 65 years ago. STRATA’s commitment to connecting communities is still prevalent in everything it does today. Based in Roosevelt, Utah, STRATA is a forward-thinking telecommunications company, continually expanding services and technology for its customers, like Justin Hansen, who want to live and work in remote areas without sacrificing a career they love. After living in a large city, Hansen hoped to return and raise his family in the idyllic setting he experienced as a kid. Fiber-optic internet from STRATA made that possible. “If it weren’t for the availability of gig fiber that I have to my house, moving back to the Basin wouldn’t have even been a choice,” Hansen said. Recognizing that many people like Hansen would come back to the Uintah Basin if the workforce infrastructure they needed was there, Vernal City and Uintah County built an innovative coworking space leveraging STRATA’s fiber network. STRATA committed to providing the gigabit internet connection for the facility so that new doors will open for other residents like Hansen who want to come home.
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