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Interstate Telecommunications Cooperative Inc.’s service area includes some of South Dakota’s most interesting geographic features. Minnesota’s, too.

Two US Senators, independent telephone companies and industry leaders are celebrating the launch of an expanded broadband network that now runs across southern Minnesota for the opportunities it will bring to existing, new and future businesses in the region.

Businesses in southern Minnesota stand to benefit significantly from SDN Communications’ experience in building and operating an advanced broadband network in South Dakota.Now, a new partnership with seven more independent telephone companies has extended the network to the east.

This week news came out that security researchers released code to exploit a known and previously patched vulnerability in the FortiOS software for Foritnet FortiGates. Although alarming, if you’re an SDN Managed Firewall customer you can rest assured you have nothing to worry about.

The small town of Faith might be best known as the former home of SUE, the Tyrannosaurus rex. A fossil hunter discovered the creature's skeletal remains near the community in 1990. Catherine Bach, the actress who played Daisy Duke in the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” also spent part of her youth in the area.

The invention of the telephone dates back to the 1870s. Early development of computer networks and the Internet can be traced back to the 1940s. Today, the constantly evolving telecommunications industry is more vibrant than ever.

Within a few months, direct access to SDN Communications’ fiber-optic network and services will reach more deeply beyond South Dakota’s eastern border and loop around the entire southern third of Minnesota.

Business and civic leaders are more than a third of the way to raising $15.5 million. That's the goal for the next phase of the highly successful Forward Sioux Falls program.

Nancy Johnson brings 15 years of legal experience and a fresh geographic perspective to her duties with SDN Communications. Johnson started in April as the vice president of legal and in-house counsel for SDN in Sioux Falls. She moved from her home state of Oklahoma to South Dakota to take the job.

Even businesses and organizations that regularly and responsibly increase their network security systems and services have to remain on guard constantly because cyber criminals prey heavily on human error.

Leading businesses in Sioux Falls and across South Dakota generally are familiar with SDN Communications. The Sioux Falls-based company, along with its affiliates and partners, provides reliable broadband connectivity and telecommunications services to businesses, organizations and government, especially to clients with multiple locations in the city, state or region.

Ryan Punt, a 16-year veteran of the telecommunications industry, has been promoted to vice president of sales at SDN Communications in Sioux Falls.

One of the newest employees hired by Kennebec Telephone Co. Inc. has to drive 40 miles to work, one way, because he couldn’t find a closer home for his family. Kennebec and neighboring communities in central South Dakota don’t have much open housing to offer new residents.

Leaders of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority take pride in their business being the first tribally owned telecommunications company in the United States.

For most businesses, losing sensitive data to a hacker can have far more serious consequences than losing information in a fire or flood. If electronic information is backed up, as it ought to be, data lost in a natural disaster can be replicated. However, if information is lost or stolen, there is no telling when or how long it could be misused.

As a student, Chris Aeilts wanted to be a traveling sound technician for a big-time rock ‘n’ roll band. Playing in a band during grade school and high school helped him develop a keen interest in electronics and sound technology.

It’s not unusual for Tony Kinneberg and his student crew to hear from TV viewers in other states or even other countries when they’re broadcasting a Parkston High School sporting event. Remote viewers are especially likely to tap into an online service to view local cable coverage when the school district’s TV channel is carrying a significant basketball game, says Kinneberg, who is the school technology coordinator and a teacher at Parkston.

Developing workers internally can help a company on multiple fronts. Good training can increase employee productivity and promote worker satisfaction. It also can enhance the appeal of the company, which is useful in attracting new employees.

SDN Communications has achieved a level of networking certification that will help its business clients pursue local, regional and global opportunities.

SDN encourages its employees to be active and healthy and not just with verbal encouragement. In addition to hosting wellness presentations and competitions for employees, the company offers its workers cash incentives for good health practices.