Windstream to Add 1,000 Jobs in 18 States As Broadband Grows

Kinetic by Windstream, a business unit of Windstream Holdings Inc. of Little Rock, said Monday that will create 1,000 jobs across 18 states as its new engineering and fiber construction organization manages broadband expansion.

Asked how many of those jobs will be in Arkansas, spokesman David Avery said the company is still finalizing the number of positions per location.

Avery said new construction teams will be based in more than 70 locations, including Harrison, Texarkana, Greenbrier, Glenwood and Fordyce. All the new positions will be with Windstream’s Kinetic business unit.

“We are committed to building the best fiber network for our customers,” Kinetic President Jeff Small said in a news release. “To accomplish that we are internalizing construction operations, ensuring the people that build the network will also operate it.

“This is another exciting step in our long-term multi-billion dollar build initiative to bring fiber services into our communities.”

Staffing of the new internal construction team will begin in the fourth quarter, and that team will take over new projects starting next year, the company said.

Also Monday, the company announced that Vermeer Corp. of Pella, Iowa, will supply construction equipment for the new organization.

Formerly a publicly traded company, Windstream went private last year after declaring bankrupcty in 2019 and cutting debt. Windstream came out of the process planning to invest heavily in its future as a provider of business communications products and services and high-speed broadband for rural consumers.