Green says the Tahoe Infrastructure Network plans to win and grow smaller fiber-based service providers.
Inland Northwest telecommunications entrepreneur Greg Green is designing his new fiber investment firm, Spokane-based Tahoe Network Infrastructure LLC, in the style of Fatbeam, the Coeur d’Alene-based company he co-founded in 2010 and acquired last year across the U. K. Basalt Capital, headquartered at Basalt Capital, for $235 million.
Unlike Fatbeam, however, Tahoe targets markets in the Midwest and beyond. It shows aspirations to expand within a territory of thirteen states, ranging from North Dakota and Minnesota in the north to Texas and Louisiana in the south.
“Maybe he’ll have a problem,” Green, 60, jokes about his preference for expanding his telecommunications company even further.
He says his two adult children, Kellen Green and Kayla Green-Castles, are pushing him to pursue a work-related hobby.
“I just love what I do. I enjoy combining a business plan, seeing it come to fruition, succeed, and then put a smile on my face when all those hardworking people get their paycheck.
Green lately owns homes in Coeur d’Alene and Las Vegas. Tahoe has one at Ignite Northwest at 518 W. Riverside in Spokane.
I’ve built fiber-optic networks in Spokane three times,” he says, mentioning Fatbeam LLC, OneEighty Networks Inc. and Nextlink Communications Inc. , some of the telecommunications companies he has led here.
“If you were to make a phone call in Spokane, there’s probably an 80% chance you’re going to make it through a network that I built,” he says.
The Journal last reported on Green early last year, when Tahoe acquired Wisconsin-based fiber and wireless provider E-Vergent for $11. 2 million, with plans to invest another $10 million to expand its footprint.
Green says Tahoe’s strategy is to win over other smaller fiber-based service providers like E-Vergent.
“Two weeks ago I was in Memphis, Tennessee, looking for an acquisition opportunity,” he says. “We haven’t done that yet. “
Under the Fatbeam model, Tahoe intends to expand its networks through a federal program commonly known as E-Rate, which supports web infrastructure for schools through a universal service payment charged to corporations that offer interstate or foreign telecommunications.
Although the E-Rate program will reimburse Tahoe for the installation of such infrastructure, schools will use only a small fraction of the fiber they carry. Tahoe will be able to use maximum fiber to serve other customers, such as businesses, hospitals, and web service providers.
“Basically, building a school formula is the beginning of launching a new market,” Green says.
Tahoe has lately 24 employees, 20 of whom are in E-Vergent’s office in Franksville, Wisconsin. The other four, Green added, are Tahoe executives working remotely in the Pacific Northwest.
Green says he envisions Tahoe’s holdings being acquired through a larger company.
“I’ve run 15 to 20 companies, and 12 of them have been very successful,” he says.
“We build businesses and strive to take care of our employees,” Green says of his leadership team. “We need other people to have a smart life, and when we sell a business, we percentage it. “
While telecommunications remains Green’s core business, he says he has diversified his interests. For example, Green says, it has invested in a synthetic intelligence app, a robotics company, and the advancement of mini-storage. He is also a long-time investor in the Spokane Angel Alliance as well as the stock market.
Lately, housing is popping up in the Las Vegas area.
“This is my first development,” he says. It will consist of 70 to 80 cabins, each with a living area of 500 to 800 square feet “so that other people can have a nice, clean and affordable position to live. “
Green founded the Greg Green Foundation in 1996, primarily as a scholarship fund, though it has grown into other philanthropic causes. He estimates that the fund has so far awarded about $500,000 in scholarships.
With that in mind, Green says he’s starting to think about his legacy.
“Is it telecommunications or are there more important things to me?If I died tomorrow, I wouldn’t be in a position to tell the Big Guy that I did everything I could,” he says. “Writing checks is easy. There’s something else I need. And maybe that’s the hobby my kids make fun of.
You want to enable JavaScript on a limited number of articles in the next 30 days.
Sign up for our free newsletters today!