By Phil Keren
The Summiteer

An estimated $35 million project launched last fall will connect all 31 Summit County communities to a public safety fiber network and give internet service firms the opportunity to extend service to residents and businesses.

County leaders decided to initiate the Summit Connects project after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of having reliable high-speed internet access.

“The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the growing digital divide present in Summit County and the entire nation,” said Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro. “The county and our 31 local governments are all in agreement. We need a better option to provide the best public safety and other government services to our residents. Summit Connects is a home-grown solution that meets the needs of our local communities.”

The Development Finance Authority (DFA), the economic development finance agency for Summit County, is overseeing the 130-mile fiber ring project using a $35 million grant it received from the county. 

Henkels & McCoy, the contractor for Summit Connects, is being paid $23 million and QCI Group, the construction management and inspection services company for the project, is receiving $3.5 million, according to Holly Miller, Assistant Director for Summit County’s Department of Community and Economic Development. 

The project started in October 2024 and is scheduled for completion in September 2026. DFA will be the owner of the fiber ring.

Through the county’s partnership with the city of Fairlawn and that municipality’s broadband utility called FairlawnGig, the fiber ring will start and end in Fairlawn. Once the project is finished in fall 2026, the county and Fairlawn will share the responsibility of operating, maintaining and repairing the infrastructure.

“We endeavored upon the investment into this public safety network to make sure that all 31 of our communities — should there be a true emergency — would be able to be connected to each other and have access to high-speed fiber,” said Greta Johnson, Director of Communications for the Summit County Executive’s Office.

Miller said each municipality is using one of its government buildings as a connection point to the fiber ring that is being installed. 

“Each community has one connection at their public safety point,” Miller said. “If something happens … we have the ability to take that ring offline and it becomes the intranet. All 31 communities will still be able to connect with each other.”

In the future, if community leaders want to connect more of their government buildings to the ring, they would have to do the work and fund it, Miller said.

The Summit Connects project will not initially provide service to residents or businesses.
“The potential for (internet service providers) to tap into that to be able to provide that high-speed fiber to residents is the next step,” Johnson said.

Miller noted an internet service provider would have to pay for and do the work associated with extending the high-speed fiber service to residential areas and businesses.

“We are having internal discussions with Internet service providers for them to do that final mile,” Miller said. “That final mile needs to go into the neighborhoods to connect residents, and as of now, there are no plans for an internet service provider that has been identified that can provide those last mile services.”

Community leaders shared their enthusiasm for this initiative that enhances internet connectivity among governmental entities and could potentially lead to more residents securing quality, high-speed internet access.

Stow Mayor John Pribonic also noted the pandemic cast a spotlight on how critical it is to have strong internet service.

“During COVID, connectivity became very important within our homes,” Pribonic said. “If you don’t have maybe a redundancy or reliability that you wish, or speed that you wish, then we’re not serving our residents.”

Pribonic said city officials are speaking with internet service providers who “want to come into the city” and offer service.

“As soon as they get that (fiber) ring up, (the internet service providers) can come in … and provide services if people want their services,” Pribonic said. “It’s the same way as Spectrum or AT&T or any of those, but it offers another alternative.”

Pribonic added he requested that the project start in Stow due to a planned reconstruction of state Route 91 (Darrow Road) that is expected to start in March and last for about two years.

Next door to Stow, Silver Lake Mayor Therese Dunphy said Summit Connects “seems to be generating interest among fiber optic vendors who are reaching out to some of these communities, including Silver Lake. Through the construction of … the ‘last mile’ of fiber optic, these companies will offer residents and businesses another internet option.”

Tallmadge Mayor Carol Siciliano-Kilway added the project will give her city a “secure connection” to the other 30 communities in the county, as well as “significantly enhance public safety operations and other critical local government services.”

So far, work is happening in Stow, Silver Lake, and Twinsburg Township. 

In Stow, Haas Brothers (a subcontractor of Henkels & McCoy) is installing conduit along Lillian and Baumberger roads. In Silver Lake, Haas Brothers is putting in conduit and locating existing utilities along Kent Road. Work crews are expected to be in Stow and Silver Lake until the end of May. In Twinsburg Township, ProSource (also a subcontractor of Henkels & McCoy) is potholing to determine utility locations and installing conduit along Darrow Road. Work is expected to be complete in Twinsburg Township at the end of February.

Work is scheduled to happen in the city of Twinsburg and Tallmadge in January, in Hudson in January and February, in Reminderville and Cuyahoga Falls in February, and in Akron in March.

For more information about the Summit Connects project, call 234-525-9901, email summitconnects@summitoh.net or visit co.summitoh.net/summitconnects.