Valerie Dodd will be the new NextLight internet director for Longmont Power & Communications, beginning Monday, Aug. 12.

Dodd comes to LPC with more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications and broadband industries, including several leadership positions with CenturyLink, most recently as the company’s vice president for marketing strategy and employee experience director. She was chosen by Longmont after a nationwide search.

“I am excited that Valerie has decided to join our team and bring her vast knowledge and expertise to the City of Longmont,” Deputy City Manager Dale Rademacher said. “We look forward to taking NextLight to the next level.”

Among her past experiences, Dodd served as CenturyLink’s vice president of operations and general manager in Albuquerque from 2011 to 2016, where she led a 400-member team focused on building, promoting, and improving residential broadband internet and high bandwidth commercial services. Prior to the CenturyLink merger with Qwest in 2011, she also served as national director for field marketing, where she drove a number of campaigns that resulted in double-digit broadband growth.

Dodd’s arrival comes at a strong time for NextLight, which first broke ground in August 2014. In the five years since, the community-owned fiber-optic network has received repeated local and national praise for its high-quality service, offering gigabit uploads and downloads citywide without contracts or data caps. Among its many accolades, NextLight transformed Longmont into Colorado’s first “Gig City” in 2017, was recognized by PC Magazine as the fastest ISP in the nation in 2018, and was ranked among the most affordable internet providers in the country in 2019 by BroadbandNow.

NextLight now serves more than 20,000 homes and businesses and has a 56% take rate, far beyond the 37% projected in its original feasibility study.

Dodd will succeed Susan Wisecup, who retired as LPC’s acting general manager on Aug. 2. The City is replacing the general manager’s position with separate directors for the electric utility and NextLight internet service, to allow greater focus on each utility and further enhance their service to the community. In July, David Hornbacher was named the new LPC electric director and began work Aug. 5.

About Longmont Power & Communications
Longmont Power & Communications is a community-owned, not-for-profit electric and internet services utility that operates under the direction of Longmont City Council. Established in 1912, our goal is to deliver electric and communications services that provide outstanding value to our customer–owners. In 2014, we began to build and operate the NextLight fiber-optic broadband system, which has made Longmont the first “gigabit city” in Colorado and has been nationally recognized for its speed, affordability and quality. To learn more, visit www.longmontcolorado.gov/lpc.