New CFO Shane Ward and Incoming CTO Chuck Girt Bring Industry Expertise and Transformative Vision
ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2024 / FiberLight, LLC, a fiber infrastructure provider with more than 20 years of experience designing, building, and operating mission-critical, high-bandwidth networks, has strategically appointed Shane Ward as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chuck Girt as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). These new leaders, each bringing unique and deep industry experience, are set to bolster FiberLight's vision of growth, innovation, and customer-centric excellence.
Ward brings more than 20 years of financial expertise spanning corporate finance and strategic growth initiatives. Most recently, he served as CFO at Lumos Fiber, establishing the company's financial operations from the ground up, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, and corporate development. Under his leadership, Lumos achieved remarkable growth, increasing revenue from $72 million in 2022 to a projected $120 million in 2024 and growing broadband subscribers from 55,000 to 90,000. Ward also spearheaded budget process improvements, achieving $12 million in savings, and introduced automation and AI to enhance operational efficiency. Prior to Lumos, he served as CFO of CTI Towers, overseeing financial operations for a company managing wireless tower sites nationwide. He also held key roles at American Tower Corporation and Sun Life Financial, where his leadership and innovative approach drove strengthened financial controls, operational improvements, and a culture of continuous improvement.
As CFO, Ward will be instrumental in driving FiberLight's financial strategies, focusing on supporting organic growth, ensuring operational excellence, and leading transformative M&A initiatives.
"A strong CFO is critical to enabling everything from the financial health of the business to guiding M&A activity," said Bill Major, FiberLight CEO. "Shane's expertise in financial strategy and specialized industry operations will allow us to maneuver effectively and scale our business through our next phase of growth while keeping customer needs at the forefront."
Girt, a seasoned industry veteran with over 30 years of experience designing resilient and scalable fiber networks, joins FiberLight after leading technology innovation and network architecture at Everstream Solutions. While there, he built a 13-state network from the ground up, deploying over 27,000 miles of fiber optics and over 220 core nodes. Girt also led cross-functional teams spanning network operations, engineering, IT, construction, and sales engineering while setting company-wide technology and operations standards. Further, he played a critical role in integrating technologies during multiple mergers and acquisitions, demonstrating his proficiency in network design and scalability.
As CTO, Girt will focus on delivering a future-ready infrastructure that aligns with FiberLight's dedication to operational excellence. By standardizing network designs and constructing systems to meet the growing demands of enterprises, healthcare organizations, the financial services sector, hyperscalers, webscalers, and national wireless providers, Girt will ensure FiberLight's network is robust, adaptable, and prepared for the technologies of tomorrow.
"Chuck's ability to anticipate and design networks for what's to come makes him invaluable," added Major. "His leadership will ensure we continue to provide the dependable, scalable infrastructure our customers rely on for their most critical communications."
These strategic C-Suite hires underscore FiberLight's unwavering commitment to building and operating future-proof networks for an interconnected world. Guided by a bold vision to deliver world-class networking solutions and exceptional experiences for customers, partners, and employees, FiberLight continues to strengthen its position as an industry leader in operational excellence and customer-centric innovation.
To learn more about FiberLight, visit www.fiberlight.com.
About FiberLight
FiberLight builds and operates mission-critical high bandwidth networks to ignite our client's digital transformation. With more than 19,000 route miles of fiber networks and 300,000 pre-qualified near-net buildings, our service portfolio includes high-capacity Ethernet and Wavelength Services, Cloud Connect, Dedicated Internet Access, Dark Fiber, and Wireless Backhaul serving domestic and international telecom companies, wireless, wireline, cable, and cloud providers, as well as key players across enterprise, government, and education. For more information, visit https://www.fiberlight.com.
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SOURCE: FiberLight
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