JAFFREY PICKS CONSOLIDATED FOR BROADBAND PROJECT

If town meeting voters agree in April, Jaffrey will become the next rural community in New Hampshire to add a fiberoptic broadband network.

The Monadnock Region town has selected Consolidated Communications to establish town-wide broadband internet service to every address in town, pending voter approval of a ten-year $1.2 million bond for the project. Construction of the so-called fiber-to-the-premises network is expected to be completed within two years.

Consolidated has agreed to underwrite the bond for the infrastructure and will use a set user fee (about $11 a month) to pay back the bond.

Consolidated recently completed work on similar fiber-to-the-premises networks in three other southwestern New Hampshire towns: Dublin, Rindge and Westmoreland. It is also nearing completion on two other networks in Walpole and Harrisville. It has also recently partnered with the towns of Danbury, Springfield, Mason and Errol to expand and enhance broadband.

ACQUISITION OF PAN AM RAILWAYS BACK ON TRACK

CSX Transportation is filing its application to acquire Pan Am Railways with the federal Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that regulates the railroad industry, according to a report in Railway Age.

Pan Am owns and operates 1,700 miles of track in New England, including 121 in New Hampshire. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Last November, when CSX first announced it was negotiating the transaction, Norfolk Southern Railway informed federal regulators that it would challenge the deal, which it claimed would stifle competition with adverse impacts on other railroads and commercial shippers in New England.

Pan Am and Norfolk Southern are partners in a joint venture known as Pan Am Southern, which provides Norfolk Southern with access to New England by way of trackage rights on the 437 miles of the Patriot Corridor between Mechanicsville, N.Y., and Ayer, Mass.

But the differences between CSX and Norfolk Southern have been overcome, with the latter keeping its 50% share in Pan Am Southern and CSX acquiring Pan Am’s share. Pan Am Southern will be operated and maintained by a neutral entity, Genesee & Wyoming Inc., through a newly formed subsidiary, Berkshire & Eastern.

RED RIVER LAUNCHES SCHOLARSHIP FOR HBCU STUDENTS

Claremont-based information technology firm Red River has launched a new, highly competitive scholarship program for Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification, open to students currently enrolled in a historically Black college or university.

The course covers the knowledge and skills required to design, install, operate and troubleshoot a small to medium size enterprise branch network.

Dan McGee, chief operations officer at Red River, said the firm recognizes that Black workers with bachelor’s degrees remain significantly under-compensated in relation to equally educated white workers.

“We truly believe that technology careers have the potential to make an impact on individual lives, and we will continue to look for ways to jumpstart careers in the industry,” he said.

Twenty HBCU students from across the country will receive fully funded CCNA training and an exam voucher and will be assigned a Red River mentor during the time of their coursework to enable further professional development.

RETIREMENT SYSTEM PICKS N.M. FUND CHIEF FOR TOP JOB

Jan Goodwin, executive director of the $14.2 billion New Mexico Educational Retirement Board, has been named executive director of the $9.4 billion New Hampshire Retirement System. She will succeed George P. Lagos, who was executive director of the Retirement System since 2012.

She is expected to start her new job April 1. Before she takes over, Tim Crutchfield, deputy executive director of the retirement system, will serve as interim executive director.