Main Street Broadband goes belly up, snubs customers, employees ...

By Lauren Delgado
Jackson County Floridan

Main Street Broadband, a?local com?mu?ni?ca?tions com?pany that pro?vided broad?band Internet among other ser?vices, shut?down on Aug. 1, and will not be refund?ing any cus?tomers or pay?ing its employ?ees, both staff and ?agents,? or local busi?nesses who sold the company?s ser?vices, said Shawn Brown, mar?ket?ing manager.

Phone calls to Mike Mies, the company?s co-founder and CEO, and to Bill Snoeberger, vice pres?i?dent of sales, were not returned.

On Main Street Broadband?s web?site, the fol?low?ing notice was posted: ?Notice to Customers and Vendors: We regret to inform you that as of today, August 1, 2012, Broadband South LLC (d/b/a Main Street Broadband, the ?Company?) is forced to cease oper?a?tions. Despite cer?tain assur?ances, we have been unable to reach an agree?ment with our senior lender, the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Rural Utilities Service (?RUS?) that would have enabled us to con?tinue oper?a?tions. We encour?age you to make imme?di?ate arrange?ments for an alter?na?tive broad?band sup?plier, as the net?work will even?tu?ally be shut down. We apol?o?gize for the incon?ve?nience caused.?

On July 31, employ?ees were sent an email about an emer?gency tele?con?fer?ence staff meet?ing at 5?p.m. that day. During the phone call, they were informed about the shut?down and that they and the agents would not be paid, Brown?said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Rural Utilities Service dis?con?tin?ued fund?ing. According to a?Rural Utilities Service press release, a?loan was approved to Main Street Broadband, to pro?vide broad?band ser?vice to rural Florida and Georgia. In April, the com?pany informed the United States Department of Agriculture of ongo?ing finan?cial prob?lems. In July, their pay?ment was delin?quent, the press release stated, and an agree?ment between USDA and Main Street Broadband couldn?t be reached.

?USDA has a?suc?cess?ful track record of fund?ing broad?band projects and we are deeply con?cerned about the impact the loss of ser?vice will have on those who live and work in the affected com?mu?ni?ties,? the press release stated. ?However, USDA also must respon?si?bly admin?is?ter gov?ern?ment funds and ensure that the broad?band?pro?gram remains avail?able in the future so it can con?tinue to fund viable rural broad?band projects.?

All the company?s equip?ment will be seized by the gov?ern?ment, Brown said. Employees were told not to con?tact agents because the gov?ern?ment would do?so.

Brown, who moved his fam?ily to take this job four months ago, said he was wor?ried about his employ?ees. He was also afraid of the back?lash from the community.

?We live in small cities,? Brown said. ?We went out and encour?aged peo?ple to sign up to our ser?vices. Our neigh?bors, our friends, peo?ple we inter?act with everyday.?

Brown was also wor?ried about Main Street Broadband cus?tomers. Besides the notice on the com?pany web?site, no cus?tomer had received a?notice about the com?pany shut?down, what to do next, or the lack of reim?burse?ment. Brown said they had been at full staff, reg?is?ter?ing new cus?tomers, and tak?ing pay?ments from cur?rent cus?tomers until July 31. In Washington County alone, the com?pany had about 600 customers.

For Andy Schack, the top Main Street Broadband agent for the south?east and the owner of Clear Choice Satellite in Chipley, the shut?down came out of nowhere. He com?pleted about four jobs for Main Street Broadband on July 31. About 20?min?utes after the last job for a?Main Street Broadband cus?tomer, he received a?call about the shutdown.

?Basically all the guys doing the ground work, they?ve been tossed to the side,? Shack?said.

Although he does have work other than Main Street Broadband, he will feel the hit from the company?s shut?down. He?s out about $10,000 of his time, equip?ment, labor, gas and more from Main Street Broadband jobs. Last month alone, his com?pany brought about 140 new clients to the company.

?I was putting every?thing into this,? Schack said.

Customers are still receiv?ing ser?vice now, but with no one man?ning the equip?ment that could end at any time, Schack said. He hopes it con?tin?ues until peo?ple, espe?cially busi?nesses who use the ser?vice for their work, can switch to a?dif?fer?ent company.

Clear Choice Satellite began to email every cus?tomer indi?vid?u?ally???so no one?s email address would be leaked by a?large mass email???about Main Street Broadband?s shut?down. Schack is waiv?ing instal?la?tion fees for Dish net?work inter?net for any?one he installed Main Street Broadband.

Posted by admin on August 6, 2012. Filed under Local updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Source: http://enterkom.com/enterprise/main-street-broadband-goes-belly-up/

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