A new year is upon us and with it comes new goals and resolutions. As individuals, many of us set resolutions for the year ahead, aiming for challenges and improvement. We are no different with organizational goals at BARC. After a strong close to an unprecedented year with unforeseen challenges..
The strangest year ever is quickly drawing to a close. Recently we have had some wintry weather in the area making it feel a little more like the holiday season. Our team is making great strides as we near the end of 2020 meeting the goals and objectives we set at the beginning of this year, not..
Today we were made aware of a scam alert involving BARC Connects. This message was received by a non BARC Connects consumer and can impact you whether you have our broadband service or not. The target received a text message that appeared to originate from FedEx regarding a shipment. Once the li..
Last week the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) distributed a press release regarding grant funding for the “BARC Connects Rockbridge County” project made possible from a $2.2M grant from the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI). We know many of you are..
The air is cooler and the change of seasons is upon us in the Shenandoah Valley. Fall is here and soon we will see the leaves showing their majestic colors adding extra beauty to our mountains. The season may be changing, but our focus remains unchanged as our team continues working to connect r..
Date: September 21, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: CSPDC Bonnie Riedesel, bonnie@cspdc.org or 540-885-5174 ext. 102 BARC Tish Blackwell, tblackwell@barcelectric.com or 800-846-2272
Broadband Expansion for Rockbridge County Moving Forward
The revised VATI grant project area ..
Summer is upon us, and though we are still navigating a global health pandemic, there is much to be thankful for and to continue to enjoy during these warm months. Our team has continued making progress with our fiber construction project while ensuring we maintain health safety to our staff, co..
A lot has changed since our last update in February. We have all been impacted by COVID-19 and its effects on how we work and interact. Our services are considered to be essential business and our crews and contractors remain on the front lines continuing efforts with our fiber construction proj..
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
BARC Connects Deploys 4 Wireless Hotspots across Rockbridge County to Assist Students During Pandemic
BARC recognizes that many students in the community do not have access to ..
Date: March 24, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
BARC Connects working to deploy free wireless hotspots across Rockbridge to help students access online classwork
While our community works together during thi..
Effective March 16, 2020, BARC facilities are no longer allowing visitors at our offices for the time being. Only BARC staff will be allowed inside the facilities until further notice. We encourage our consumers to take advantage of our digital and remote tools for your account management. Pleas..
Have you seen the daffodils springing up? You may have also seen new fiber construction springing up across the area as we continue to on-board broadband subscribers to the network.
While we wrap up construction in the remaining areas in Phase 1, we have moved full steam ahead into Phase 2. ..
Date: January 23, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
The group came together advocating for key steps the agency can take to help bridge the digital divide in rural America
Millboro, VA – Earlier this month the ..
Date: January 27, 2020
Contact: CSPDC Bonnie Riedesel, bonnie@cspdc.org or 540-885-5174 ext. 102
For Immediate Release: Grant Awards for Broadband Expansion Announced for Bath and Rockbridge Counties
The multi-jurisdictional project will connect unserved residences and businesses i..
Date: January 13, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
Millboro, VA – BARC Electric Cooperative is excited to announce that its CEO, Mike Keyser, was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to the Virginia Broadband Advisor..
It’s the holiday season and our mascot Butch is full of holiday cheer, enjoying the parades and festivities in the communities we serve. As we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in 2020, we remain focused on continuing our fiber project and expanding our Internet service area. Construction is..
The trees have been showing off their brilliant colors this fall in the Shenandoah Valley these last few weeks, reminding us that the end of 2019 is drawing near. As the seasons transition, so too does our fiber project. While phase 1 construction continues in the remaining service areas, phase..
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
Broadband Project Provides Needed Infrastructure in Rockbridge County, Virginia
Lexington, VA – On October 7th, BARC Electric Cooperative was awarded $1M by the Appalachi..
Lexington, VA ; On September 9, BARC Connects hit a major milestone. The subsidiary of BARC Electric Cooperative installed ultra-high-speed Internet to its 1,000th subscriber. BARC celebrated this milestone by rewarding the lucky subscriber with a free upgrade to “gig service” or 1,0..
Summer is winding down in rural Virginia, students have returned to their classes and the days and nights are growing shorter. With the tailwinds of some great summer weather , we have made great progress on our fiber construction project. Soon, we will have our 1,000th BARC Connects customer in..
Longer periods of sunshine and warmer weather let us know that summer has arrived here in the Shenandoah Valley. While lightning bugs light up the night skies, BARC Connects continues by day to light up residential and commercial consumers with our broadband services. In April we let you know that w..
The weather is warmer, the skies are bluer and we are on a roll with connecting even more customers to our BARC Connects broadband services. With construction picking up, we’ve greatly increased the weekly installations of fiber-to-the-home service in phase 1. We are excited to see the upt..
Spring has made its arrival in the Shenandoah Valley and much needed sunshine has brought a reprieve to the rain and winter temperatures. A year ago, we announced that BARC Connects had connected our first customers to our world-class broadband services. Despite the record amounts of rainfall ou..
Happy New Year! January in the Shenandoah Valley has brought continued rain and winter temperatures, including some snow, yet our fiber construction project in Rockbridge County is moving along. In an effort to increase our capacity to build drops to residential consumers, we have made internal ..
As the holiday season approaches, there is a lot of bustle happening in the Shenandoah Valley. Though the temperatures have been on a roller coaster ride and rain still falls in the valley, BARC’s fiber project is moving forward with increased activity in Rockbridge County. We are excited ..
BARC is hosting a Community Meeting to discuss the BARC Connects fiber project for residents in Birdfield, Country Club and Providence Hill on Thursday, November 29th at 5:30pm in the Maury River Middle School library.
BARC Connects has completed engineering & design to bring broadband ..
BARC Connects services are currently back online. We are still working through some issues, but service should be restored, unless you are currently experiencing a power outage. If your internet remains down, please report the outage to our technical support by calling 800-846-2272, option 2...
BARC is currently experiencing a network outage impacting internet, phone and TV services. Both primary and backup fiber backhaul circuits feeding our network have been cut. All service is down, including internal phone lines. All calls to BARC will be answered by our after-hours service until t..
Due to the threat of wintry weather in our area, the BARC Community Meeting regarding the BARC Connects fiber project for residents in Birdfield, Country Club and Providence Hill has been rescheduled for Thursday, November 29th at 5:30pm in the Maury River Middle School library.
BARC Connect..
BARC Connects has completed engineering & design to bring broadband services (including high-speed Internet, phone and TV) to Lexington residents in the Birdfield, Country Club and Providence Hill communities. To bring broadband to communities outside of the BARC Electric service area, const..
Shorter days and a nip in the air signify the arrival of autumn and the season of harvest in the Shenandoah Valley. Despite the significant impacts from rainfall with one of the wettest years on record for our area, BARC’s fiber project continues to move forward in Rockbridge County, but a..
BARC is excited to announce beginning October 1, 2018 BB&T branches in BARC service areas will accept in-person payments for both BARC Electric and BARC Connects. You are not required to be a customer of BB&T to use this service. It is important to ensure you provide the appropriate docu..
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
BARC Connects continues fiber construction along Greenhouse Road
Rockbridge County, VA – BARC Electric Cooperative (BARC) and its subsidiary BARC Connects remain comm..
We hope everyone had a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend. Though summer is coming to a close, work on BARC’s fiber project continues to push forward in Rockbridge County. We have experienced some schedule delays due mostly to contract crew availability, which has caused our planned const..
As we reach the midpoint of summer, crews continue to build drops and connect customers from Kerr’s Creek all the way to the Raphine area. In addition, we are moving steadily along our planned routes and are pleased to announce that construction will start in the following areas in August:..
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tish Blackwell, 800-846-2272 (tblackwell@barcelectric.com)
BARC Connects brings RCPS online with high-speed Internet service
Millboro, VA – BARC Electric Cooperative (BARC) announced Wednesday its subsidiary, BARC Connects, ..
We hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July! Though the summer sun is beginning to sizzle, our crews are keeping pace with construction on the fiber build and customers continue to get connected with fiber service every week. Looking ahead to the rest of this month, the following areas wil..
Summer is arriving in the Valley, and with the changing season come changes in our deployment of fiber to you. We know our customers are eager to be connected to our Ultra-Fast Internet (http://www.barcconnects.net/products_internet), Television (http://www.barcconnects.net/products_tv), and Unl..
Our crews are happy to see the sun again after the seemingly endless amount of rainfall we’ve received lately. While the rain has impaired our ability to pick up the construction pace on our fiber project, overall, BARC Connects (http://www.barcconnects.net/) remains on schedule for phase ..
BARC’s service area in the Shenandoah Valley is one of the most beautiful pastoral regions in the Commonwealth. But like most rural areas without reliable broadband service, we see challenges in retaining population, economic development opportunities, even in downloading a newspaper quick..
Your customer experience is our Number 1 focus. Because we value your time, your trust, and your business, BARC Connects (http://www.barcconnects.net) will always be transparent about scheduled interruptions to your internet (http://www.barcconnects.net/products_internet), television (http://ww..
Construction continues on our broadband project and new customers continue to spring up along our fiber network around Rockbridge County. While many of you are aware of the high-speed internet packages your local BARC Connects has available, you need to know that we have even more to offer.
..
Monday, April 16, 2018
For Immediate Release
For further information, contact:
Tish Blackwell
800-846-2272
tblackwell@barcelectric.com
Representatives of Virginia’s consumer-owned electric cooperatives met with Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine April 13 i..
There’s a lot of excitement here at BARC Connects (http://www.barcconnects.net/) as we begin activating customers with high-speed internet. As we work to narrow the “digital divide,” you’ll likely meet two of our team members. They are the experts that ensure your drop fr..
Dear BARC Connects Subscribers:
As you start to venture outside after a seemingly endless winter, you will notice an increased presence of fiber crews springing into action. As we continue to connect subscribers in our northern ring, from Kerr’s Creek to Bustleburg, additional crews a..
As Amy Rees Anderson said in a November 2012 Forbes Magazine article, “If I could teach only one value to live by, it would be this: Success will come and go, but integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is wat..
BARC Electric Cooperative Delivers a World-Class Broadband Experience with Calix Mesh-Enhanced Carrier Class Wi-Fi and Calix Cloud
Connecting 13,000 members across five Virginia counties with fiber, BARC is dedicated to delivering an unmatched subscriber experience through managed, who..
Dear BARC Connects Subscribers:
Spring is upon us, and high-speed Internet is starting to bloom in the county. This month we have connected our first BARC Connects customers!!! As crews continue to build service drops, we are currently activating residential customers in the Kerr’s Cr..
Happy New Year BARC Connects subscribers!
Fiber construction and in-home installs are really going to start ramping up now that we are through the holidays. Construction is nearly complete on the northern substation ring and crews will be shifting to service drops later this month. Yes, at ..
As you may have heard, the FCC is currently working to undo “Net neutrality.” In fact, the vote to repeal Net neutrality is scheduled for December 14. We want to take a moment to explain what this means, and to tell you why we are completely against this.
What is Net neutrality..
It has now been about a month since fiber construction commenced, and we thought this was a good time to provide our subscribers with an update on how things are progressing.
Our contract crews from S&N Communications have been busy building our fiber “core ring,” which wil..
From the beginning, we designed BARC Connects to be a different kind of Internet service provider. First off, our sole focus is on providing a superior customer experience. Nothing will ever be more important to us than your satisfaction with our service.
We want to share with you a 10-poin..
With construction on our fiber project starting next week, this is a quick reminder that free service drops are still available to customers in the eligible phase 1 area. The free service drop promotion will run until our service drop crews pass your location, or we run out of them, whichever c..
Soft Launch on RANA
We have achieved another milestone in our efforts to bring world-class Internet to your doorstep. Starting this week, BARC Connects is officially in “beta mode” on the RANA network. A small number of customers with an existing fiber drop from RANA have graci..
BARC is now underway on a major project to provide high-speed Internet, TV, and telephone service to all its members. We often discuss what we are doing, but rarely answer why we are doing it. Here is the story.
First, we need quality Internet as badly as you do. The local telephone compa..
Dear BARC Connects subscribers:
By far the most frequent question we get these days is "when am I getting fiber?" Everyone is very eager to get fiber-to-the-home, and we are equally as eager to bring it to you. A lot goes into creating an internet service provider from scratch, and building..
We have great news for BARC Connects' subscribers! Because so many people are choosing to bundle their Internet with phone and/or cable TV service, we are now able to increase the bundle discounts to help our subscribers save even more money. We're here to serve everybody with affordable world-c..
Our fiber-to-the-home pre-sale has officially begun!
We offer two convenient ways to sign up for service before construction begins. For those who wish to self-serve online, head to our Customer Portal at http://shop.barcconnects.net, where you can review our packages and pricing and sign u..
We have big news. The moment we have all been waiting for is finally upon us…the BARC Connects fiber-to-the-home pre-sale will officially begin on Monday, July 10! Yes, that is right. Starting on July 10, you will be able to see pricing, select your Internet, phone, and cable TV packages,..
A lot has changed with regards to where and how we use the Internet. In the early days, if you had Internet service, it was hard wired to a single computer in your house, and companies had to install miles of CAT5 cable throughout offices, cubicles and conference rooms. Then along came wireless ..
At long last, we have cut through all the red tape and field work has begun! The first step, now underway, is to prepare the electric system for the fiber deployment. This effort is commonly referred to as "make ready" work. It entails replacing poles that may be too short, adding new guy wires, and..
Virginia Cooperative Moving Forward to Bring High-Speed Internet to Its Members
BARC Electric Cooperative (BARC) is moving forward with a $66 million fiber-to-the-home project that will make high speed Internet available to both BARC and non-BARC members over the next 7-8 years.
..
Click on the following link to watch our short animated video and learn everything you ever wanted to know about signing up and supporting our fiber-to-the-home project in the City of Lexington and Rockbridge County, Virginia: https://youtu.be/hVHWY2VjKcA. Help us reach our supporter goal by sig..