JCE Co-op celebrated a defining milestone for rural northwest Illinois on August 26, recognizing 13 municipalities, three lake associations, and three counties now served by fiber broadband and honoring the local leaders, public agencies, workforce partners and industry organizations that helped turn a shared vision for connectivity into critical community infrastructure.
More than 100 government officials, community leaders, cooperative employees and partners gathered at Chestnut Mountain Resort for JCE Co-op’s Connected Communities Celebration. The event marked the near completion of an ambitious fiber initiative that has grown to over 3,000 route miles, serves over 11,000 fiber internet members and is expected to pass nearly 30,000 homes, farms, businesses and community institutions across rural northwest Illinois over the next several years.
JCE Co-op has secured 14 broadband grants—three federal and 11 state awards—to extend future-ready fiber into places where geography, low population density and challenging economics have historically limited investment. Together with local matching funds and sustained community support, those awards have enabled the cooperative to build where service was needed most and help close the rural digital divide.
Infrastructure Built Around People
The achievement is measured in miles of fiber and locations reached, but its purpose is deeply human. Reliable high-speed connectivity gives students the ability to complete schoolwork, enables families to access telehealth and remote-work opportunities, helps farmers adopt precision-agriculture tools and allows local businesses to compete, grow and serve customers beyond the region. It also gives communities a stronger foundation to attract investment, retain talent and create opportunities that allow young people to build careers close to home.
“Connecting communities is about much more than internet access—it is about helping people participate fully in modern life,” said Mike Casper, president and CEO of JCE Co-op. “Students can learn, businesses can grow, families can connect to work, healthcare and one another, and every community gains a stronger foundation for the future. We are grateful to the local leaders and partners who believed in their communities and worked alongside us to make this possible.”
A Regional Model for Rural Broadband
The celebration underscored what can be achieved when communities organize around a regional strategy. Through 11 Connect Illinois grants, JCE Co-op’s state-supported expansion is bringing fiber connectivity to approximately 5,500 homes, businesses, farms and community anchor institutions across three counties. The cooperative’s broader grant portfolio also includes two USDA Community Connect awards and one USDA ReConnect award supporting roughly 3,000 additional rural locations.
“These communities did not wait for someone else to solve the problem,” said Jesse Shekleton, director of operations and general manager of broadband at JCE Co-op. “They organized, invested local resources, supported complex grant applications and stayed committed through multiple construction seasons. This celebration recognizes their leadership, and it also marks the beginning of the next chapter: driving adoption, utilization and long-term prosperity on top of this world-class fiber infrastructure.”
Investment in Local Talent
JCE Co-op and its regional partners are also investing in the workforce required to build, maintain and operate advanced networks. Through a partnership with Morrison Tech, BEST Inc. and the State of Illinois, the region launched Illinois’ first fiber technician apprenticeship program and adopted the Fiber Broadband Association’s OpTIC Path curriculum. The program is preparing local workers for broadband careers while helping the value of the infrastructure investment remain in the communities it serves.
“A grant builds a network once; a training program creates lasting local capability,” said Paul Breakman, co-chair of the Fiber Broadband Association Public Policy Committee. “The network is the visible asset, but the workforce is the durable one. By pairing fiber deployment with career pathways, northwest Illinois is building the capacity to sustain this investment for decades.”
Honoring 19 Connected Communities
The 2026 Connected Community Award recipients are the City of Mount Carroll; Village of Elizabeth; City of Savanna; City of Galena; Village of Stockton; Village of Scales Mound; Village of Menominee; The Galena Territory Association; Apple Canyon Lake Property Owners Association; Lake Carroll Association; Village of Thomson; City of East Dubuque; Village of Chadwick; Village of Nora; Village of Lena; Village of Coleta; Jo Daviess County; Carroll County; and Whiteside County.
The awardees include 13 municipalities, three lake associations and three counties whose communities are fully or substantially built out with fiber. Representatives joined JCE Co-op for a ceremonial ribbon cutting, symbolizing not an endpoint but a transition from deployment to adoption, utilization and measurable community impact.
Partnership Made the Build Possible
The deployment was made possible through collaboration among JCE Co-op members and employees; municipal, county and state leaders; the Illinois Office of Broadband; USDA Rural Development; workforce and education partners; legislators; and engineering, technology and distribution partners.
Whiteside County committed $3 million in local American Rescue Plan Act matching funds, demonstrating the region’s commitment to ensuring rural residents and businesses are not left behind.
Adtran, Core Telecom Systems and Vantage Point Solutions sponsored the Connected Communities Celebration and have supported JCE Co-op throughout the fiber initiative.
About JCE Co-op
JCE Co-op is a member-owned cooperative providing electric, natural gas and fiber services across northwest Illinois. Guided by the cooperative principles of local ownership, accountability and commitment to community, JCE Co-op works to deliver safe, reliable and affordable services while improving quality of life and creating long-term opportunity for the communities it serves.