Annual Report - CoBank

CommunicationsBANKING DIVISIONBluebirdNetworkSlicing six feet deep into the Missouri prairie,work crews spent much of 2011 layingbroadband fibers across vast stretches ofcountryside in order to bring high-speedInternet and beefed-up communicationcapabilities to rural hospitals, schoolsand colleges.Columbia-based Bluebird Network wasawarded a federal stimulus grant to builda “middle mile broadband network” tounderserved areas in rural Northern Missouri.But without additional financing from CoBank,the project may not have been possible.In early 2011, Bluebird merged with the MissouriNetwork Alliance, a former CoBank customerthat already operated a 3,000-mile fiber opticnetwork throughout the state. The loan fromCoBank not only helped seal the merger, butit also provided the additional capital requiredby the federal grant to complete the three-year,$65 million project. “The federal grant makesthe project possible, but the financing, and theconfidence CoBank has in our newly mergedcompany, makes it complete,” says Chris Bach,Bluebird CFO.Rob West, CoBank senior vice presidentand manager of the bank’s CommunicationsBanking Division, said the transactionunderscores the value of CoBank’s experienceserving the rural communications industry.“This is one of those situations where we wereable to turn our strong, long-term associationwith the Missouri Network Alliance into a newpartnership with Bluebird,” West says. “We’redelighted with this project, which will givethousands of people in Missouri access tohigh-speed Internet and the tools they need tocompete in the 21st century.”Steve Gann, Bluebird NetworkBoard MemberAndy Smith, CoBankVice President, Relationship ManagerChris Bach, Bluebird NetworkChief Financial OfficerChris Martin, Bluebird NetworkBoard MemberBUILDING FORTOMORROW25