JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters CEO Named to North Georgia Network Advisory Board

White County businessman represents business community

CLARKESVILLE, Ga. (Jan. 3, 2012) – The North Georgia Network has named JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters CEO Forrest Graves to its Community Advisory Board.

The North Georgia Network is building a high-speed fiber-optic network that will benefit Dawson, Forsyth, Habersham, Lumpkin, Rabun, Towns, Union and White counties with more reliable and more affordable high-speed Internet access.

The Community Advisory Board provides public oversight to NGN and provides feedback from the communities to the overall board of directors. As an advisory board member, Graves will offer insight from a business standpoint.

“It’s a privilege and honor to serve the Community Advisory Board,” Graves said. “Once the North Georgia Network fiber optic infrastructure is operational, it will provide a world-class competitive and technological advantage for business and education in our region for decades to come.”

In 2008, Graves founded JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters and quickly grew the company into one of the country’s premier mail order and internet sellers of premium coffees. The company has customers in all 50 states and many countries. Graves’ efforts generated national attention from networks news organizations and news magazines.
Not content to remain only a roaster, Graves co-founded the San Rafael Sustainable Coffee Initiative in Costa Rica and that led the THRIVE Farmers partnership, a privately held company that connects coffee lovers with the farmers who grow the beans. Graves is currently Strategic Advisor/Equity Partner with THRIVE Farmers, which serves as a pipeline from the coffee plantations to the retail outlets, keeping coffee farmers involved in every step of the process.

“Forrest understands the importance of the fiber optic network for businesses in North Georgia,” said Bruce Abraham, president and CEO of North Georgia Network. “He has built his business through social media, Internet marketing and sales.”

The network will be able to support applications such as eCommerce, eGovernment, high-definition video and social networking that require enormous amounts of bandwidth and will allow businesses to better compete in the global economy, enable schools to offer more distance learning, support more healthcare services and provide area citizens with world-class connectivity.

The $42 million North Georgia Network broadband infrastructure project is made possible in large part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). ARRA provided grant funds to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to support major improvements in broadband infrastructure for the nation’s digitally unserved and underserved. In December 2009, NGN became the first organization to be awarded a grant through the program, receiving $33 million under the NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). Additional funding came from the OneGeorgia Authority and participating local communities.

For more information, contact:
Tiffany Fessler
Morton Vardeman & Carlson
770-536-8921
tiffany@vardeman.com

Jeff Butler
Morton Vardeman & Carlson
770-536-8921
jeff@vardeman.com