CVFiber, a nonprofit communications network provider for residents and businesses in central Vermont, has hired Jennille Smith as its first executive director and first full-time employee.
Smith, a practicing lawyer, joins CVFiber just as the organization moves from an all-volunteer planning operation to a real-world builder and operator of a high-speed broadband network. She will spend her first few months getting to know the 21 communities served by CVFiber and preparing for construction of the 1,200-mile, $50 million community network set to begin later this year.
“Jennille is a great asset with her experience in rural infrastructure development,” said Linda Gravell, CVFiber delegate from Waterbury. “She is a skilled communicator with the experience needed to lead CVFiber during the construction and upcoming operations of our network.”
Smith attended law school in California and spent 13 years working on infrastructure there before moving back to Vermont to be closer to her family. Since 2018, she has worked on FirstNet, the federal initiative to build cell towers in underserved communities. FirstNet was a response to the 9/11 terror attacks, which showed the need for universal emergency communication.
“Tragedy has a way of revealing things to us,” Smith said. “As the 9/11 attacks showed the need for robust communications infrastructure, the COVID pandemic revealed that connecting with the world is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”