Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 6

53 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 6 GUDENKAUF CORPORAT ION service far better than before.” As well as making a lot of additional capital available, the Congruex acquisition has also led to exciting new business opportunities. Gudenkauf is now a registered CLEC (Competitive, Local, Exchange, Carrier) with the state of Ohio. “Now we can actually build our own networks and sell some of that space to companies that we would have never dreamed of selling to only six months ago,” Rogers comments. “We didn’t have the legal skill, knowledge, or capacity to pull something like that off but now we do. So these are the kinds of benefits that are going to be really good in the long-term for Gudenkauf.” The partnership with Congruex will also be beneficial for Gudenkauf’s customers. The company works with a broad variety of industries, both in the public and private sectors. Rogers adds, “We work with many manufacturing companies, higher education institutions, and local municipalities on a variety of fiber projects across all the carriers, whether it’s AT&T, Frontier Communications, Segra, or a number of others. I think our diversity of customers has been key to our success, particularly when the industry has been going through a difficult patch.” Another reason why Gudenkauf has been able to thrive even during periods of industry turmoil is the expertise it offers in building fiber networks – including its last-mile offering – and other network solutions. “As well as fiber- to-premise, another forward step came when we got involved in intelligent transportation services (ITS),” Rogers notes. “In central Ohio over the last 10 years, we have built more than 800 miles of ITS networks and connected around 750 intersections. We’ve also been involved in autonomous vehicle projects.” Although much of the acclaim for Gudenkauf’s innovative work must go to the company’s employees, the City of Columbus itself also