On Wednesday, the Valley Fiber team, several MLAs, municipal partners and representatives and community members all gathered around C.E.O of Valley Fiber Hank Wall to hear opening remarks, and to celebrate this milestone of innovation and development, as well as what it means for Winkler and all of Manitoba. Referring to the funding announcement made earlier this month where Valley Fiber indicated it has formalized an agreement with the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and DIF Capital Partners to invest in the $328 million Manitoba Fiber Project.

The deal will see the construction of 2,657 kilometres of mainline fiberoptic cabling throughout 53 rural Manitoba municipalities, targeting 48,500 households with dedicated fiber-to-the-home. Project regions include the West Interlake, East Interlake, Central Manitoba, Eastern Manitoba, and the Winnipeg River Region.

Read More - Valley Fiber Inks $328 Million Dollar Rural Internet Partnership

Wall addressed the crowd with passion.

"This is one of those moments in life in which you step back, and you take that mental picture," said Wall. "It's a milestone. It's that moment in life you can step back, for a little bit, and just recollect on, 'Wow! Look what we have done.' Often people talk about the success of Valley Fiber, but this isn't just Valley Fiber. This is the municipalities getting together. This is reeves.

Valley Fiber C.E.O. Hank Wall during one of Wednesday's tours This is mayors. This is people coming together for a common vision, for the common good, for the greater good of Canadians. Trying to equal the economic playing field, and trying to do things that are different than have ever been done before."

Wall expressed they are blessed to have met people who believe in their vision, are willing to take some of the passion they bring to the marketplace and expand it further.

"I genuinely say this with the most open, honest, hard work, and we are blessed, here at Valley Fiber, to not only have these amazing communities to service and to work with, but the amazing staff that have come into our lives to be able to allow us to truly offer the best service technology can offer."

Wall recognized the tens of thousands of hours of service this dedicated staff have put in to get to this point. He thanked the many supporters for taking a chance on a new technology that had never been taken into rural Canada the way it has with the Winkler based technology firm.

The Municipality of Emerson-Franklin is one of the many areas in the province benefiting from the partnership between Valley Fiber, the Canada Infrastructure Bank and DIF Capital Partners. Reeve Dave Carlson spoke at Wednesday’s celebration.

“They've (Valley Fiber) been critical to our future, our economic development plans we have at the border and throughout our municipality.” said Carlson. “Not only economic development plans to attract and retain our businesses, but also quality of life for our citizens. Our service was terrible and now, everybody that's been hooked up, whether it's the direct fiber to the household or whether it's on tower, they are absolutely thrilled with the service they get.”

Winkler Mayor Martin Harder commented on what impact this day has on the city.

"Today is a huge day. It feels like we were in the birthing room when Valley Fiber was first formed, and it was exciting to see the enthusiasm of Hank at that time, and to see the enthusiasm of the company as they grow," said Harder. "And yes, they are maybe in a bit of a teenage growth spurt right now, and it's so exciting to have been a part of it from the beginning. I'm just very proud of having them in our community, and I'm very proud of the fact we are able to provide services to the surrounding communities, making their lives better, because an idea came, we adopted it and we helped them move forward."

Harder noted Winkler is known as a manufacturing community, and this diversification will attract new high tech businesses and increase local opportunities.

"It's a changing world, and it's actually bringing much more opportunity to our region," noted Harder. "As Hank said, the Silicon Valley of the North is in reality what was being created here, and I think it's very exciting to be able to offer the services, but also the growth opportunities which are so totally different than what is currently being offered."

Wall recognized the need for doing what you say you will do.

"I know in technology, it's one of those situations where everybody over promises and under delivers. That's not Valley Fiber. That's not who we are," stressed Wall. "We guarantee our speeds for a reason. We innovated brand new technology that allows us to take the most urban, stylistic build, the top quality product in the world and stretch it out rural. Open and equal access to everybody, we all believe in that right? And so why should somebody living a couple of miles on a town, or a couple hundred miles out of town, why should they have to suffer? They don't need to. The technology exists today."

Wall hopes that people that consider moving to urban centers to build businesses will consider moving to rural areas to have the life they want to live without the barriers that have existed before.

As for the Manitoba Fiber Project, construction is already underway. Valley Fiber expects up to 400 jobs will be created during the construction phase, with an additional 50 permanent jobs created within the company alone.