On Tuesday, March 14, 2018, the Town of Tazewell hosted an exciting announcement – the rural broadband service provider Sunset Digital Communications will be opening a new branch office in Tazewell! The new office will house support teams for Virginia customers in the Tazewell, Russell, Buchanan, Wythe, and Bland county region. 

The Sunset Digital project in Tazewell will create at least 50 new jobs. The positions to be filled will include administrative, sales, technical, and field service positions. The extended growth and success of the project should bring many new career opportunities to the community over the next three years and beyond.

The announcement was made at a media and community event held at the Town Hall in Tazewell, with a reception following at Seven. Founders of Sunset Digital, Paul and Ryan Elswick, shared their vision for the Tazewell office and Sunset’s broadband expansion plan. Ryan Elswick told the audience, “The new office will allow Sunset Digital to support Sunset’s growth in the region, which will in turn provide much-needed broadband service to businesses, schools, hospitals, and residents in surrounding communities. Aside from being great people to work with, Tazewell is well positioned geographically, and has an airport, which made it very attractive to us. We are very grateful to have this opportunity, and look forward to having a positive impact in new job creation and broadband access here.”

The new location will be supported by a $680,000 grant form the Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund (TROF), which is extended by Virginia’s Tobacco Revitalization Commission. Commission Chairman, Delegate Terry Kilgore, stated separately, “This announcement by Sunset Digital is great news for our region. This kind of major investment, as well as the jobs that are being created as a result, will have a large impact on the counties that will receive increased broadband availability. The Tobacco Commission has worked hard over the years to expand broadband access in all areas that we serve, and this investment by Sunset is a welcome addition. There is still much work to be done to ensure that every home and business has broadband access, but the Tobacco Commission, along with private sector partners like Sunset, will continue to move towards that goal.”

There were many local and state representatives in attendance at the event, including speakers Tazewell Mayor Donald Buchanan, Tazewell Town Manager Todd Day, Town of Tazewell’s IDA Chairman Chad Murray, Tazewell County Board of Supervisors member Mike Hymes, and Senator Ben Chafin.

Sunset Digital had existing staff on hand to help residents and local businesses sign up to have broadband service brought to their locations. The service teams helped guests fill out a brief form with address information so that infrastructure plans can be mapped and growth goals can be set.

For more information about Sunset Digital, visit their website at www.sunset-fiber.com