Longest-running staffers: Connected Nation through the eyes of the people who shaped it, Vol. II

Bowling Green, Ky. (July 14, 2026) - If the first stages of growth are about planting and protecting roots, then what follows is about what rises above the ground — the structure, direction, and extension of each individual branch.

A tree does not grow in isolation. It expands toward light, adapts to its environment, and gradually develops the strength to support systems far beyond itself — sheltering what grows beneath it, while continuing to reach toward what comes next.

For Connected Nation (CN), the past 25 years have been exactly that kind of expansion: not only deepening its foundation in broadband access and digital inclusion, but extending its reach into the policy frameworks, infrastructure systems, and technical ecosystems that make connectivity possible at scale.

Vol. II of CN’s history tells stories of two long-tenured team members whose work reflects that expansion from different but complementary angles: Brent Legg and John Determan.

Their perspectives trace CN’s evolution from early state-level broadband expansion efforts to national policy influence and the emerging architecture of the modern internet itself.

Building the systems behind connection

When Legg joined CN in July 2007 as Director of State & Local Initiatives, the organization was still in a formative stage of expansion beyond its Kentucky and Tennessee roots.

His early work centered on helping grow the organization’s footprint. Over time, that role expanded alongside the industry itself.

“What started as expanding Connected Nation into new states evolved into building and maintaining relationships with government and industry stakeholders,” Legg said. “Not just for business development but to advance public policy on broadband issues.”

That policy focus eventually grew into federal engagement, education technology initiatives, and work supporting broadband access in classrooms and communities. More recently, his work has extended into internet exchange point (IXP) development — a shift that reflects the next phase of internet infrastructure.

Today, Legg leads government affairs at the state and federal levels while also guiding CN’s IXP development efforts.

For him, the motivation behind that long trajectory can be summed up into one word.

“The mission,” he said simply. “The work we do is making a difference in the lives of people and the future of our country.”

But equally important, he points to the people around him.

“It’s hard to imagine working alongside a better group of people dedicated to the mission,” Legg said. “We’ve been in the trenches together.”

Among those relationships, he highlights years of collaboration with leadership and colleagues across the organization — built through shared travel, shared strategy, and shared urgency in advancing connectivity nationwide.

“My job allows me to build meaningful relationships across the country,” Legg said, “and build a new, mission-critical telecom business from the ground up. It’s exciting stuff.”

That “next chapter” has increasingly centered on infrastructure that most users never see but every digital experience depends on.

Today, CN’s investment in internet exchange points represents a shift from access alone to the underlying systems that determine speed, resilience, and the future of data flow itself.

“There are currently about 125 buildings in the U.S. where networks interconnect and exchange data traffic,” Legg said. “We’ve made it our goal to double that number.”

In his view, the implications extend far beyond connectivity.

“The future of low-latency, inference-based artificial intelligence will depend on the infrastructure we’re planning to build,” he said. “That is incredibly cool, and it means CN will remain relevant for a very long time.”

From kilobits to gigabits: seeing the divide close in real time

Where Legg’s perspective traces policy and infrastructure evolution, Determan’s story begins on (and often beneath) the ground — with the physical reality of connectivity itself.

Joining CN around 2010 as a Field Engineer, Determan’s career has followed the transformation of broadband from scarcity to widespread capability, with continued work ensuring that rural America is not left behind in the transition.

At the start of his career, speeds that are now considered unusable were once defined as broadband.

“I have had the privilege of working with broadband infrastructure from when 500 kilobits per second download was considered broadband,” he said, “to now verifying many very rural locations having the ability to receive 1 gigabit per second speeds.”

That change is not just technical — it is personal and economic.

Determan has seen firsthand how limited connectivity once restricted opportunity, especially for remote workers and rural households. Early in his career, many individuals wanted to work from home but simply could not because the infrastructure did not support it.

Today, that reality has shifted dramatically. In fact, more and more workforces are turning remote to save employees fuel costs, increase productivity, and limit the amount of physical space needed to achieve their goals.

“Now I get the opportunity to hear stories of how they can work for banks, graphic designers and even run wedding venues from their beautiful rural acreages,” he said.

Determan credits three things for keeping his work engaging, making it feel less like work and more like an endless adventure: “The people I work with on a daily basis, each project bringing a new set of challenges, and the diversity of clients’ knowledge and backgrounds.”

He also shared his appreciation for the collaborative nature of early technical work, particularly in building the foundational mapping systems that helped define broadband measurement in its early years.

The next layer of connection

If the early decades of broadband work were about proving what was possible, the next phase is about refining how it performs.

Both Legg and Determan point toward a future shaped not only by access but by optimization — where latency, resilience, education, and adoption become just as critical as availability.

According to Legg, “As broadband becomes available to all Americans everywhere, the next step technically is reducing latency to the users on the edge by installing IXPs in Tier 2 cities.”

He sees CN’s future role expanding into education and emerging technologies as well.

“I see a leader in education on AI, digital inclusion, and Tier 2 IXPs,” he said.

Despite the technical complexity of that vision, the underlying goal remains unchanged.

“We can continue to make a difference in the lives of everyday Americans,” Determan said, “by making sure no one is left behind.”

A system built to keep growing

Across both policy and engineering, strategy and implementation, Legg and Determan represent two essential layers of the same system: one shaping the architecture of opportunity, the other ensuring it works in the real world.

Their stories reflect what Connected Nation has become over 25 years — not a single initiative, but an evolving ecosystem designed to expand with the demands of each new technological era.

Like any structure that endures, its strength is not only in how it was built, but in how it continues to adapt — extending upward, outward, and forward, without losing sight of the foundation beneath it.

And in that way, the work continues.

Did you miss volume 1? Click here to read it!