The GFiber blog is your home for GFiber news and updates

Our blog series, Connected by GFiber, continues! This time we're featuring the Association House of Chicago, where GFiber's support makes free technology programs like AI Essentials and Microsoft Office Certification available to all. Learn how accessible tech training is helping people like Martina, Palak, and Alex reclaim their confidence, re-enter the workforce, and reimagine their futures.

When Martina found herself at home recovering from cancer, unemployed and uncertain about the future, she needed more than a distraction—she needed a way to reclaim control. That’s when she discovered Association House of Chicago’s technology programs, made possible through the generous support of GFiber. 

“I was just trying to find other things to do and keep myself busy,” she recalls. Enrolling in AI Essentials gave her both structure and purpose. “Once I started to do it on my own, I was in control of my own time, and how fast I wanted to do things.” 

After quickly receiving her AI certification, Martina went on to earn her Excel Associate certification, pursue project management training, and prepare to step back into the workforce with renewed confidence. 

Martina’s story is a powerful reminder of what happens when opportunity meets access. For Palak, a new mother looking to return to her tech career, the same courses provided a bridge back into opportunity. “I wanted to brush up my skills after my baby was born, and these classes gave me the confidence to step back into the tech field,” she says. 

From Digital Skills for Life to AI Essentials and Microsoft Office certification, Palak sharpened her technical abilities while reclaiming her professional confidence. “The Intermediate Excel class made the biggest difference for me—I recommend it to everyone who wants to learn data skills. The teaching and support here are amazing,” she adds, highlighting instructors like Casey Moulton, who guided her every step of the way. 

For Alex, technology training was about more than career advancement—it was a tool to help others. After years of working as a teacher, and noticing that parents often needed support too, he was inspired to enroll in Association House's Financial Careers Training course, which connected him with AI Essentials. 

“These classes felt like an opportunity to help people in ways I hadn't considered before,” he explains. "Puzzling through complicated financial decisions can be a lot, and with the AI skills I learned here, I can help people consider all their options and increase their financial literacy." 

His advice to new learners captures the spirit of Association House: “You have to have the mindset that you are going to succeed… and it’s perfectly alright to open yourself up to things you didn't know before."

The journeys of Martina, Palak, and Alex illustrate the transformative power of accessible technology education: confidence restored, opportunities expanded, and futures reimagined. 

Thanks to GFiber’s unwavering support, programs like Digital Skills for Life, Senior Planet, Microsoft Office Certification, and AI Essentials remain free to all, ensuring that every learner—no matter their circumstance—can step boldly into their digital future.

This installment of our Connected by GFiber series features Little Explorers, a children’s play cafe in Kansas City, MO. GFiber’s reliable internet helps provide a connected gathering space for families to explore and unwind.

In the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, Little Explorers is more than just a children’s play cafe; it’s a community hub. For us, reliable internet isn't a luxury—it's the backbone of our mission to create a truly accessible gathering space for families.

The idea for Little Explorers was born out of personal need. Whenever I wanted to take my daughter to do anything fun, we’d have to drive 30 minutes out. I wanted to create something for our kids to do that is on the bus line, is accessible for people that don’t have cars, and is minutes from everything in Kansas City.

Little Explorers is designed to cater to the diverse needs of modern families. Kids explore a stocked playroom and a safe, engaging environment, while parents grab a coffee or a snack and take advantage of the workspace — and great Wi-Fi. Many parents work remotely at the cafe while their children play nearby.

One of the most special parts of our space is Open Play, a time where little ones can freely explore, imagine, and create. Our dramatic play areas let children step into different roles, build stories, and connect with others through play, while our sensory zones give them the chance to discover and grow at their own pace.

In addition to daily play, Little Explorers also hosts parties and special events, like the upcoming Arts and Crafts hour on November 20th. 

All of this activity requires reliable, high-speed internet, like Little Explorers’ GFiber. 

Before signing up for GFiber, we were unable to run daily operations smoothly. We couldn’t even get a reliable phone signal, missing crucial voicemails and emails and struggling to operate point-of-sale systems. This unreliable connection hindered what Little Explorers could offer its guests. 

Connecting to GFiber was a game-changer, transforming our offerings and providing the stability and speed necessary to power all their services. 

GFiber’s reliable connection not only allows Little Explorers to run daily operations smoothly, but also enhances the overall experience for families. 

The vision doesn’t stop here. In the future, Little Explorers hopes to expand and offer more resources for children and families in the community. STEM programs, free groceries, and a mobile clinic are on the list of possibilities for the playroom, and we even hope to kickstart a community garden. With a reliable foundation in place, Little Explorers is well-positioned to continue growing and serving its community in impactful ways.

Posted by Shavonne Mann, Owner, Little Explorers Playroom.

For the past 20 years, in one of the wealthiest communities in Colorado, SECOR Cares has been addressing a unique and often overlooked need: suburban poverty. When you think of poverty, you might picture urban metro centers with tent cities or rural homes lacking modern amenities like clean water and electricity. But the fastest-growing segment of poverty is the one you wouldn't expect. Poverty in the suburbs is growing at three times the rate of urban poverty, but remains nearly invisible. 

Suburban poverty looks like a single mom juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet; a family of four who lost their sole income just before the holidays; a senior couple who thought they had saved enough for retirement but now find themselves barely scraping by. Many of these people don’t qualify for traditional support services because their income is just above the federal poverty line, yet not enough to sustain themselves. They may be your kids’ teacher, your next-door neighbor, the person working on your car or a nurse at your local hospital; perhaps even you. Unfortunately, the sense of shame people feel often prevent them from sharing their struggles, keeping suburban poverty under the radar.

SECOR aims to eliminate this stigma by providing a safe space filled with hope as people work to rebuild their lives. At first glance, you might think that SECOR is just another food pantry, but you'll quickly see how it is different. Every inch of SECOR’s Free Food Market is designed with dignity in mind. 

Our goal is to go beyond meeting the most basic needs and offering items that help our guests regain a sense of normalcy, and in a way, feel more like themselves again. The market is set up like a grocery store, so guests get to ‘shop’ for themselves, deciding which items their children will eat, planning out meals, and accommodating dietary needs. In addition to the traditional pantry staples, SECOR offers meat, fresh produce, and even flowers. 

We’ve intentionally cultivated an environment where everyone who walks through our doors feels genuinely welcomed—treated not just as a visitor, but as an honored guest. That’s why we’ve chosen this term over the more traditional “client.”

Dignity also guides our approach beyond the flagship Free Food Market. SECOR has a board of guests who serve in an advisory role to provide feedback and brainstorm new initiatives. We're constantly looking for new ways to make our guest experience even better and for this reason, it is crucial to center the voices of our guests in everything we do. One of the new initiatives SECOR has started, inspired by guest feedback, is a digital literacy class. 

With the exciting new sponsorship from GFiber, SECOR will be able to offer a 6-week digital literacy course designed to teach guests—some of whom may have never used a laptop—the essential skills needed to navigate a computer. At the end of the course, they get to keep the laptop they’ve been working on. In today’s world, not being able to use technology is more detrimental than ever. Technology is how we access the world—it's how we pay bills, communicate with our social networks, and work toward self-sufficiency. Some guests take this class to get a better job, others to talk with their grandkids across the world, or to be able to help their own children with their homework. 

Another guest-inspired idea launching at SECOR is a craft fair. Nearly 30 vendors, all of whom are SECOR guests, will showcase their creativity and talents.

What makes this event truly special is that participants pay no vendor fees to join, and 100% of the profits go directly to the vendors. Unlike many poverty-focused initiatives that highlight scarcity and what people lack, this fair shifts the perspective to celebrate strength, resilience, skill, and creativity. By doing so, it empowers families to grow their income and build toward self-sufficiency. 

This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 25th from 12:00 - 4:00 pm MT and 17151 Pine Lane, Parker, CO 80134. If you’re local to the Denver area, we’d welcome any residents to stop by, shop, and support our incredible vendors. If you’re not nearby but want to be part of this work, you can always give or learn more at www.secorcares.com.

Posted by Brie Dilley, Executive Director, SECOR Cares

Our small business blog series, Connected by GFiber, continues! This time we’re featuring Peter Ghali, owner of CrossFit Coordinate in Cary, North Carolina, who shares how GFiber’s high-speed reliable internet solved his connectivity challenges, keeping his community connected and allowing him to truly provide a seamless experience for his members.

When I purchased CrossFit Coordinate in 2021, I faced a problem: GFiber wasn't available at our location. I had acquired more than a gym. I'd bought a 24/7 fitness community in Cary, North Carolina, where every door lock, workout display, body composition scan, and playlist depended on reliable connectivity. As a tech-savvy entrepreneur, I knew exactly what I needed: fast and reliable fiber built for the future. But I couldn't get it initially. This is the story of how CrossFit Coordinate evolved, and how GFiber high-speed internet powers everything we do today.

At CrossFit Coordinate, our motto is "where community and fitness intersect." We serve primarily adults in their 30s and 40s, but members range from 12 to 77! These are people who care about their fitness and value being part of something bigger than themselves. We’re not talking about 23-year-old college athletes in peak condition; it’s 45-year-old soccer moms with two kids, professionals hitting 50, and everyone in between.

The social aspect is crucial because when your friends are coming to class, it encourages you to show up too. We've built a community of members creating an environment where nobody feels different or out of place.

The Internet Infrastructure Challenge
Here's what you may not have considered about modern fitness facilities: internet connectivity underlies almost everything we do. We offer 24/7 access, which means members can come in whenever they want, but those doors only unlock when our internet-connected system is working. We stream music during every class. Our large computer screen displays workouts that members engage with throughout their sessions. Our body composition testing machine requires a stable internet connection for results to be immediately shared. 

When I acquired CrossFit Coordinate, it was running on DSL service. The reliability was poor, and the cost was high. 

Determined to improve our service, I went through considerable effort to get coaxial service installed. The building permissions, the coordination, the setup — it was all a significant undertaking. Initially, I was optimistic. The service cost less than DSL and seemed faster.

But then came the rain.

Every time we had heavy rainfall, our internet connection went down. For a 24/7 gym, this was catastrophic. Picture this: someone wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to work out at 5 a.m., drives to the gym, and discovers they can't get in because the internet is down and the doors won't unlock. They're going to text me, and often I'd have to drive over and manually let them in.

The reliability issues affected our classes too. If coaches couldn't display the workout on screen because the internet was down, how would class participants know what to do? Without music streaming, people were working out without their motivating music.

When I learned that GFiber was available in our area, I didn't hesitate. The difference has been remarkable! Since installing GFiber, we've had virtually zero connectivity issues. The Wi-Fi reaches every part of our 5,000-square-foot facility, without any extenders or additional equipment. Members can connect their devices to stream their own music on our speakers, kids can use iPads while parents work out, and our business operations run seamlessly.

The reliability supports everything from virtual nutrition coaching sessions (we work with clients as far away as California) to our marketing and sales processes. When prospective members visit, they need internet access to view our programs and complete their purchase process. Our social media presence, member management software, and all our digital tools depend on consistent connectivity.

What we don't need is excessive bandwidth; we typically use 400-500 megabits per second, which is more than sufficient for streaming music, basic browsing, and supporting 3-5 concurrent users during peak times. What we absolutely require is reliability.

GFiber has delivered that reliability at a price point lower than what we were paying our previous provider. In fact, when that competitor calls trying to win us back, I tell them point-blank: if their service were free, I would never switch back.

The Bottom Line for Fitness Businesses
For any small business owner, understand that internet connectivity isn't optional anymore. It's foundational infrastructure. Whether you're running 24/7 access, streaming content, managing customer data, or building community through digital engagement, your internet service must be reliable.

If you're in the Cary and Apex, NC  area and looking for a fitness community that will hold you accountable and deliver results, we'd love to have you visit. And if you're a fellow gym owner struggling with internet reliability, consider making the switch to GFiber. Your members and your business will thank you.

Posted by Peter Ghali, Owner/Coach, Crossfit Coordinate

Ready to discover where community and fitness intersect? Learn more about CrossFit Coordinate and our programs, including remote nutrition coaching available nationwide.

When reliability meets affordability, small businesses thrive

An unexpected crisis struck Office Ours just three days after opening their Garner location. The co-working provider's internet went down for 36 hours, leaving their new tenants stranded without connectivity.

"Here we are, a day into the outage, and we still can't get anyone from our internet provider to tell us when it'll be fixed," recalls Ryan Rangel, Office Ours founder and president. "We had maybe 10 people who had just moved in and were paying us rent to provide them a good office environment. I called continuously for all 36 hours and for the whole outage no one could tell me when it would come back online."

That moment made it clear: for small business owners, internet connectivity isn't just a service, it's the lifeline that keeps operations running smoothly. That lifeline needed to be stronger than ever to support 150+ businesses – ranging from massage therapists to counselors to IT startups – across four Raleigh-area locations and one in nearby Sanford, North Carolina.

Office Ours tried two different internet service providers before GFiber. Desiring more reliability, Ryan didn't hesitate to make the switch to GFiber once service was available in Raleigh. The switch brought immediate benefits that went far beyond speed to Office Ours’ four Raleigh-area locations. 

GFiber was a game-changer from the very start, at installation. GFiber didn't just provide one connection per building; they installed individual ports for each office suite, creating all-new flexibility for tenants.

This infrastructure upgrade opened new possibilities for Office Ours' diverse tenant base. Previously, they lost a promising tech startup that needed robust upload speeds for nightly server backups, something their previous service couldn't handle with its limited 20 megabit per second upload capacity.

This flexibility has become a powerful sales tool. "When I'm doing tours and I mention GFiber, people light up a little bit more," Office Ours vice president for sales and marketing Amy Brewer notes.

Beyond the technical capabilities, GFiber's monitoring and support system has impressed the Office Ours team.

"GFiber tells you you're down before you even notice it yourself," Ryan says. "Sometimes they'll have it fixed before you even notice it went down."

The reliability difference is stark. While their previous provider required monthly service calls across their five locations, Ryan can't remember the last time a GFiber technician needed to visit.

Office Ours serves approximately 90-plus businesses with physical offices and 150 total customers including virtual office clients. The company's growth ambitions are equally impressive. They're planning to start the process of doubling in size in 2026, with GFiber expected to be their first call for any new Wake County locations.

"The way any business scales is you have to have the same service at every location," Ryan explains. "Having GFiber as our constant across Wake County locations gives us that consistency."

What sets GFiber apart in the business market isn't just the technology, Ryan shares. It's the approach. While other fiber providers require long-term contracts, GFiber offers month-to-month service even for multi-location businesses like Office Ours.

"GFiber is the most reasonably priced, and you're the only one that doesn't make us sign contracts," he emphasizes. "We’re set up at four locations and don’t require more than month-to-month service."

The Bottom Line for Small Business
For small business owners considering their connectivity options, Ryan’s advice is simple: "It's really about reliability. The moment we moved to GFiber, all those intermittent connectivity issues disappeared."

Office Ours' story demonstrates how the right internet infrastructure can impact not just day-to-day operations, it also supports long-term growth potential. By providing reliable, scalable connectivity without restrictive contracts, GFiber enables small businesses to focus on what they do best: serving their customers and growing their operations.

Posted by Michael Cole, GFiber Head of Sales, East Region.

 
And the results speak for themselves. 
 
Since the program began: 

• Participating organizations have experienced an average of 243% revenue growth within five years of entering the cohort. 
  
• Charitable contributions for these organizations increased by over $763,000 on average. 
  
• 29 of the 30 alumni are still actively leading or working in the Triangle’s social sector. 
  
• The leaders’ platforms have expanded nationally, appearing on CNN, Good Morning America, Forbes, and even on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Posted by Crystal WIlson, Chief Outreach Officer, United Way of the Greater Triangle.