By Dave Caplan
I have a unique perspective within Lakeland Networks. Having been with Lakeland since the beginning allows me to see how much we’ve truly grown. When I joined, there were only 5 employees and the company was called Lakeland Energy. I was hired to help build the network and grow our offered services. However, fibre was expensive and only businesses with an urgent need would consider upgrading to our blistering (by those standards) 20Mbps internet package. Back then the team would celebrate when we connected 1 new customer per month!
In order to grow, we knew we needed to change. We went through a transition, we changed names, we added services, we started to compete in the residential market and we grew. The growth meant we hired more staff, built more fibre, integrated more systems and acquired a wireless broadband company.
The only constant in Lakeland Networks is change, and embracing this change is what has made us so successful. Lakeland Networks empowers its employees to be open, to try new technologies, to not be afraid to fail, to learn on our feet and push to be the best. This is what makes Lakeland Networks such a special place to work.
When I look back now to where we came from, I stand in awe of what we were and what we’ve become. It’s been a heck of a ride and all because we took that first step… and changed.