First named Harper County Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc.,
Hunnewell
KanOkla was formally organized and incorporated on December 14, 1951 due to grassroots efforts
became a member community
Bluff City
became a member community
Geuda Springs
became a member community
Corbin, Freeport, Perth, South Haven, and Waldron
Braman
became a member community
Renamed
KanOkla Telephone Association, Inc. to reflect Kansas and Oklahoma
became the first member communities
KanOkla Board of Directors, Left to Right:
Back Row: Brad Rieger, President; John Showman; Troy Dierking;
Front Row: Kim Humphrey; Kelly Ford, Secretary/Treasurer;
Mark Schwerdtfeger, Vice President; Janell LeValley
Jill Kuehny, CEO
Dave Nance, COO
A local grassroots effort sparked the formation of KanOkla in 1951, connecting telephone lines across pastures to nearby towns. A Locally owned cooperative with employees that live and work in the communities we serve, KanOkla specializes in finding ways to reach the hard to-reach, remote customers with high speed internet. Centered in America’s heartland along the Kansas-Oklahoma border and nestled between Wichita, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, KanOkla is headquartered in Caldwell, Kansas.
Keeping you connected – whether fiber buried underground to your back door, or rooftop equipment pointed to one of our 48 fixed wireless tower locations, or copper DSL lines in Osage County, we’ve got you covered. We cater to small towns, small businesses, schools, family farms, and those rural frontiersmen living on the edge. It is our lifeblood to connect our communities to the rest of the world. We’re behind the scenes in our labs and studios, hustling, problem-solving, crafting, and trouble- shooting to ensure seamless connectivity. We believe bigger isn’t better when it comes to knowing and servicing our particular regional areas and neighborhoods.
Our network spans 2,800 miles of fiber and copper. In 2001, we ventured beyond the outer edges of our member boundaries with our fixed wireless product which now includes 48 towers equipped with high volume connectivity out to the world. We expanded our reach in 2017, acquiring a small, family-owned and operated telephone company in the beautiful Flint Hills region of Osage County, Oklahoma and are working to bring high speed internet to our friends and neighbors here. Our network teams, front line technicians and support staff are a sharp, dogged crew working hard to ensure your peace of mind and gain your trust.
There are other avenues that KanOkla can help in growing our communities through local commerce.
Revolving Loan Funds - 0% interest loans for up to ten years available to qualifying community and new/existing business projects. We administer these funds in partnership with USDA.
Grow Our Own - Help entrepreneurs gather resources, create a business plan and look into funding opportunities.
