Cooperatives bring high-speed internet to rural areas that other companies won’t go to, keeping bright young people and budding entrepreneurs in town.
21-year-old Mikah Walters grew up in Stilwell, Oklahoma — and thanks to broadband provided by OzarksGo, he now owns his own business there.
Mikah always enjoyed tinkering and repairing things as a small child, which eventually grew into a penchant for repairing electronics. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to channel that passion into MTech Cave, an electronics repair center and gaming lounge in downtown Stilwell.
Employees at MTech Cave will happily repair your broken cell phone screen or other electronics. You can also spend an afternoon in the gaming lounge playing popular games like Fortnite on one of the four high-end gaming PCs that Mikah built himself, or on one of several other consoles.
MTech Cave opened in January 2019 and has benefitted from OzarksGo internet service from the beginning.
Fast, reliable internet is critical for Mikah’s customers to be able to compete in multiplayer games with other players around the world. Some customers even bring their own consoles to the store to download games with the reliable connection OzarksGo provides, as it’s faster than what they have available at home.
Mikah says that more businesses in town are looking into launching their own websites, and that he thinks the availability of broadband will help keep businesses and young people in the Stilwell area.
“I couldn’t have done this without OzarksGo,” he said.
Cooperatives provide rural communities with the resources they need to keep businesses and young people in the area — promoting economic and community growth.