Working Together to Build Better Outcomes for Public Sector Customers
Brightspeed Business is a leading fiber broadband provider focused on expanding reliable, high-speed connectivity and helping bridge the digital divide in the communities that need it most. We partner with public sector organizations to support economic growth, education, healthcare, and essential services.
Our public sector team serves customers with a variety of complexities, timelines, and standards. Meeting those demands requires our sales, government affairs, and legal teams to work cross-functionally to understand challenges and to deliver impactful results to our customers.
Much of that coordination happens behind the scenes with long-term community needs in mind. At the center of that collaboration are three leaders who work together to turn strategy into action:
- Paul Curlee, Senior Director Public Sector Sales
- John Mizerak, Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy
- Mark Hill, Associate General Counsel
Starting with Strategy
Paul Curlee oversees Brightspeed’s federal, state, and local government initiatives, partnering closely with states to demonstrate the value of expanding our fiber footprint and creating long-term growth opportunities.
While expanding coverage is important to his team, Paul also works with government leaders to identify where connectivity can support economic development and help bridge the equity gap in rural and underserved areas.
“If you have network bandwidth, people have opportunities to work remotely, so their job opportunities become much greater, and it creates more economic development for the community. It brings better education for kids. It brings better services from the fire station, police station, county government … and the local businesses have the ability to do a lot more,” he said.
This is where the strategic builds start to take shape. Paul starts the process by identifying where fiber investments can make the greatest impact and aligning that with community needs and public sector priorities. Once that strategy is set, the focus shifts from vision to execution.
Turning Strategy Into Action
While Paul focuses on driving the business forward, John Mizerak and his team are more hands-on with the people involved in the development projects. Working across 20 states, the government affairs team works closely with municipal leaders and representatives at the state, city, town, and county levels. They guide communities through the fiber build planning, the permitting processes, and help resolve any issues that arise along the way.
John’s team also works closely with the Brightspeed Grant Office to gather support from counties and cities for grant opportunities like BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment), a program driving the expansion of broadband infrastructure across the country. BEAD is key to Brightspeed’s mission to bridge the digital divide, and so far, we’ve secured more than $500 million in BEAD-funded projects.
These ongoing partnerships create a feedback loop for Paul and his sales team on nearby areas that need fiber to better serve the community—like schools, colleges, county buildings, 911 centers, and more.
“With a focus to improving the customer experience, our Government Affairs Team works with the internal Operations Teams to address escalations from the regulatory bodies at the state levels as well as the municipal governments and the state legislators." John said.
Mark Hill and his team also work in sync with Paul and John by bringing a trusted legal and compliance perspective into each project. Mark reviews proposals across key public sector programs like E-Rate for K–12 schools and Rural Health Care, ensuring everything is accurate, compliant, and realistically scoped. Mark acts as a checkpoint to make sure pricing is right, requirements are clearly understood, and taxes and surcharges are properly accounted for—which helps the organization as a whole move forward with confidence and be better prepared.
This cross collaboration helps avoid potential roadblocks and keeps projects moving forward, which makes things more efficient for our customers.
“I think we work well together, we stay focused on collaboration rather than randomly passing work over the fence. I think it helps us triangulate for the customer and deliver,” Paul added.
How Our Customers Benefit
The teams led by Paul, John, and Mark all work together so that, in the end, our public sector customers can trust that we understand their mission and their challenges and can act effectively to solve them and deliver reliable connectivity.
By setting up strategic leadership, turning that strategy into action, and keeping everything compliant and scalable, we help our customers turn network complexity into clarity and deliver a more meaningful impact overall. This allows public sector agencies and leaders to focus on what matters most—serving their communities while Brightspeed seamlessly handles connecting the dots behind the scenes.
If you have connectivity needs in your community, upcoming projects, or need help exploring funding opportunities, let’s get a conversation going.
Working Together to Build Better Outcomes for Public Sector Customers
Brightspeed Business is a leading fiber broadband provider focused on expanding reliable, high-speed connectivity and helping bridge the digital divide in the communities that need it most. We partner with public sector organizations to support economic growth, education, healthcare, and essential services.
Our public sector team serves customers with a variety of complexities, timelines, and standards. Meeting those demands requires our sales, government affairs, and legal teams to work cross-functionally to understand challenges and to deliver impactful results to our customers.
Much of that coordination happens behind the scenes with long-term community needs in mind. At the center of that collaboration are three leaders who work together to turn strategy into action:
- Paul Curlee, Senior Director Public Sector Sales
- John Mizerak, Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy
- Mark Hill, Associate General Counsel
Starting with Strategy
Paul Curlee oversees Brightspeed’s federal, state, and local government initiatives, partnering closely with states to demonstrate the value of expanding our fiber footprint and creating long-term growth opportunities.
While expanding coverage is important to his team, Paul also works with government leaders to identify where connectivity can support economic development and help bridge the equity gap in rural and underserved areas.
“If you have network bandwidth, people have opportunities to work remotely, so their job opportunities become much greater, and it creates more economic development for the community. It brings better education for kids. It brings better services from the fire station, police station, county government … and the local businesses have the ability to do a lot more,” he said.
This is where the strategic builds start to take shape. Paul starts the process by identifying where fiber investments can make the greatest impact and aligning that with community needs and public sector priorities. Once that strategy is set, the focus shifts from vision to execution.
Turning Strategy Into Action
While Paul focuses on driving the business forward, John Mizerak and his team are more hands-on with the people involved in the development projects. Working across 20 states, the government affairs team works closely with municipal leaders and representatives at the state, city, town, and county levels. They guide communities through the fiber build planning, the permitting processes, and help resolve any issues that arise along the way.
John’s team also works closely with the Brightspeed Grant Office to gather support from counties and cities for grant opportunities like BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment), a program driving the expansion of broadband infrastructure across the country. BEAD is key to Brightspeed’s mission to bridge the digital divide, and so far, we’ve secured more than $500 million in BEAD-funded projects.
These ongoing partnerships create a feedback loop for Paul and his sales team on nearby areas that need fiber to better serve the community—like schools, colleges, county buildings, 911 centers, and more.
“With a focus to improving the customer experience, our Government Affairs Team works with the internal Operations Teams to address escalations from the regulatory bodies at the state levels as well as the municipal governments and the state legislators." John said.
Mark Hill and his team also work in sync with Paul and John by bringing a trusted legal and compliance perspective into each project. Mark reviews proposals across key public sector programs like E-Rate for K–12 schools and Rural Health Care, ensuring everything is accurate, compliant, and realistically scoped. Mark acts as a checkpoint to make sure pricing is right, requirements are clearly understood, and taxes and surcharges are properly accounted for—which helps the organization as a whole move forward with confidence and be better prepared.
This cross collaboration helps avoid potential roadblocks and keeps projects moving forward, which makes things more efficient for our customers.
“I think we work well together, we stay focused on collaboration rather than randomly passing work over the fence. I think it helps us triangulate for the customer and deliver,” Paul added.
How Our Customers Benefit
The teams led by Paul, John, and Mark all work together so that, in the end, our public sector customers can trust that we understand their mission and their challenges and can act effectively to solve them and deliver reliable connectivity.
By setting up strategic leadership, turning that strategy into action, and keeping everything compliant and scalable, we help our customers turn network complexity into clarity and deliver a more meaningful impact overall. This allows public sector agencies and leaders to focus on what matters most—serving their communities while Brightspeed seamlessly handles connecting the dots behind the scenes.
If you have connectivity needs in your community, upcoming projects, or need help exploring funding opportunities, let’s get a conversation going.
Working Together to Build Better Outcomes for Public Sector Customers
Brightspeed Business is a leading fiber broadband provider focused on expanding reliable, high-speed connectivity and helping bridge the digital divide in the communities that need it most. We partner with public sector organizations to support economic growth, education, healthcare, and essential services.
Our public sector team serves customers with a variety of complexities, timelines, and standards. Meeting those demands requires our sales, government affairs, and legal teams to work cross-functionally to understand challenges and to deliver impactful results to our customers.
Much of that coordination happens behind the scenes with long-term community needs in mind. At the center of that collaboration are three leaders who work together to turn strategy into action:
- Paul Curlee, Senior Director Public Sector Sales
- John Mizerak, Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy
- Mark Hill, Associate General Counsel
Starting with Strategy
Paul Curlee oversees Brightspeed’s federal, state, and local government initiatives, partnering closely with states to demonstrate the value of expanding our fiber footprint and creating long-term growth opportunities.
While expanding coverage is important to his team, Paul also works with government leaders to identify where connectivity can support economic development and help bridge the equity gap in rural and underserved areas.
“If you have network bandwidth, people have opportunities to work remotely, so their job opportunities become much greater, and it creates more economic development for the community. It brings better education for kids. It brings better services from the fire station, police station, county government … and the local businesses have the ability to do a lot more,” he said.
This is where the strategic builds start to take shape. Paul starts the process by identifying where fiber investments can make the greatest impact and aligning that with community needs and public sector priorities. Once that strategy is set, the focus shifts from vision to execution.
Turning Strategy Into Action
While Paul focuses on driving the business forward, John Mizerak and his team are more hands-on with the people involved in the development projects. Working across 20 states, the government affairs team works closely with municipal leaders and representatives at the state, city, town, and county levels. They guide communities through the fiber build planning, the permitting processes, and help resolve any issues that arise along the way.
John’s team also works closely with the Brightspeed Grant Office to gather support from counties and cities for grant opportunities like BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment), a program driving the expansion of broadband infrastructure across the country. BEAD is key to Brightspeed’s mission to bridge the digital divide, and so far, we’ve secured more than $500 million in BEAD-funded projects.
These ongoing partnerships create a feedback loop for Paul and his sales team on nearby areas that need fiber to better serve the community—like schools, colleges, county buildings, 911 centers, and more.
“With a focus to improving the customer experience, our Government Affairs Team works with the internal Operations Teams to address escalations from the regulatory bodies at the state levels as well as the municipal governments and the state legislators." John said.
Mark Hill and his team also work in sync with Paul and John by bringing a trusted legal and compliance perspective into each project. Mark reviews proposals across key public sector programs like E-Rate for K–12 schools and Rural Health Care, ensuring everything is accurate, compliant, and realistically scoped. Mark acts as a checkpoint to make sure pricing is right, requirements are clearly understood, and taxes and surcharges are properly accounted for—which helps the organization as a whole move forward with confidence and be better prepared.
This cross collaboration helps avoid potential roadblocks and keeps projects moving forward, which makes things more efficient for our customers.
“I think we work well together, we stay focused on collaboration rather than randomly passing work over the fence. I think it helps us triangulate for the customer and deliver,” Paul added.
How Our Customers Benefit
The teams led by Paul, John, and Mark all work together so that, in the end, our public sector customers can trust that we understand their mission and their challenges and can act effectively to solve them and deliver reliable connectivity.
By setting up strategic leadership, turning that strategy into action, and keeping everything compliant and scalable, we help our customers turn network complexity into clarity and deliver a more meaningful impact overall. This allows public sector agencies and leaders to focus on what matters most—serving their communities while Brightspeed seamlessly handles connecting the dots behind the scenes.
If you have connectivity needs in your community, upcoming projects, or need help exploring funding opportunities, let’s get a conversation going.
