Diamond State Networks’ board of directors is pleased to announce that it has named Doug Maglothin as its new Chief Executive Officer effective January 2023. Maglothin brings a wealth of telecommunications experience and a passion for positive growth of internet connectivity for the state of Arkansas.

“Our board of directors is thrilled to have Doug in this leadership position. His extensive knowledge in the telecommunications industry and strategic business development skills will ensure further progress in the broadband space for Arkansas,” said Mitchell Johnson, co-chair of Diamond State Networks board of directors.

Since 2018, Maglothin served as Partner and Chief Strategy Officer for Leverage Broadband Strategies, a telecommunications consulting firm that began providing executive management services instrumental in the formation of Diamond State in 2020. With almost 2 decades of leadership experience in the telecommunications industry, he has been facilitating the ongoing partnership between the 13 electric cooperatives that make up Diamond State Networks, a wholesale broadband provider uniting the fiber-optic networks of member cooperatives throughout the state. 

“I am grateful to accept the CEO position with Diamond State Networks,” said Maglothin. “Leverage Broadband Strategies and Diamond State Networks are companies which are both very close to my heart. The growth that we have seen at Leverage is tremendous and I appreciate every day the value that our customers gain through our expert resources. Diamond State and the cooperatives are making the largest collective fiber broadband investment in the history of our state, and being asked to help in leading a centerpiece of that mission is the honor of a lifetime for me.”

Maglothin received his Executive MBA and a Master of Information Systems from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, and he holds a B.S. in Marketing Mangement from Western Governor’s University in Salt Lake City, Utah. Moving forward, Maglothin will remain a partner and owner of Leverage while shifting out of day-to-day operations into a role on its board of directors.

“The Leverage team looks forward to continuing to work with Doug and the entire Diamond State team,” said Cheryl Summers, CEO of Leverage Broadband Strategies. “Doug’s expertise and experience have been invaluable to our organization. We are grateful that he will remain as a member of the Leverage board of directors, and know that he will lead Diamond State Networks to incredible levels of success.”

Leverage will continue to advise Diamond State Networks.

“Leverage has been a strategic resource to the electric cooperatives on this project, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with them into the future,” stated Jeremiah Sloan, co-chair of Diamond State Networks board of directors.

Diamond State Networks opened its first corporate office location in Jonesboro this summer. The board of directors is led by co-chairs Mitchell Johnson, president and CEO of Ozarks Electric, and Jeremiah Sloan, president and CEO of Craighead Electric. The organization is governed by a board of directors composed of additional executive leaders from its 13 partner cooperatives or subsidiary fiber networks.

Together, these electric cooperatives have invested, or are planning to invest, more than $1.8 billion in broadband communication infrastructure, exclusively in fiber-optic networks. Focusing on reliability, quality and sustainability, the network will serve nearly 600,000 potential customer locations, and will have an immensely positive impact on the state’s economy by helping to make Arkansas a place where people want to live and do business for years to come.

Additional recent strategic hires for Diamond State Networks include:

• Marty Allen, Chief Technology Officer
• Jill McDaniel, Vice President of Operations
• Ed Mallette, Principal Architect
• Chad Clark, Senior Network Architect
• Jim Skiavo, Director, Project Management Office
• Bryan Pascua, Sr. Director of IT and Systems
• Seth Elder, Account and Billing Manager
• Chad Bennett, Senior Solutions Engineer

For more information about Diamond State Networks, visit diamondstatenetworks.com.

For more information about Leverage Broadband Strategies, visit leveragebroadband.com.