Our leadership team is deeply experienced in telecommunications and passionate about expanding Summit Broadband’s infrastructure throughout the state while constantly improving products and services for our customers.
Kurt Van Wagenen joined Summit Broadband as Chief Executive Officer in May 2023. He is a veteran of the telecommunications industry with over 30 years of experience in corporate strategy and integration, engineering, operations and consumer sales and service. Kurt leads the company as it continues the strategic expansion of its fiber-optic network into new enterprise, government, education and residential communities in Florida.
Before joining Summit Broadband, Kurt was President, CEO and Board Chair of FirstLight Fiber. His experience also includes serving as President and CEO of FiberTower Corporation and, prior to that, NEON Communications. He began his career with Verizon, where he was a member of the Management Career Development and General Management Development Leadership programs, holding management positions with increasing responsibility in various functional areas.
Kurt has served on several nonprofit Boards, including INCOMPAS, A Better Chance, Pathways to College and the Gold NorCal Chapter of Young Presidents’ Organization. He also serves on the School of Engineering Leadership Council for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Kurt is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mark Rankin joined Summit Broadband in February 2021. With more than 30 years of accounting and finance experience – 17 years of which has been in the telecommunications industry – Mark is responsible for all accounting and audit, tax, fleet, procurement, financial reporting and treasury functions of the company.
Mark is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting from Slippery Rock University. He is also a board member of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC).
Randall Covard joined Summit Broadband in July 2020. With nearly a decade of legal experience in the telecommunications industry, Randall advises the company and its stakeholders on all legal matters and oversees its Human Resources functions.
Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Randall served as legal counsel at FiberLight, LLC, where he was responsible for providing legal advice on a broad range of matters including corporate governance, commercial transactions, litigation, regulatory compliance and human resources. He also led the legal team during a large-scale network deployment with new fiber construction across several regions of the United States. He negotiated and closed a variety of customer transactions that generated hundreds of millions in revenue.
Randall earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from John Marshall Law School and also holds a degree in Education from Elizabethtown College.
Tyler Wallis joined Summit Broadband in May of 2022. Mr. Wallis is responsible for Strategy, Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience for all of Summit’s Residential Services.
Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Tyler led Sales and Business Operations for Google Fiber’s build-out and launch in San Antonio. He also held senior-level consumer marketing and product roles with Cricket Wireless, Qwest Communications and AT&T.
Tyler earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University.
Ernie Hoffmann assumed the role of Executive Vice President of Operations at Summit Broadband in December 2023, bringing with him a wealth of expertise garnered over 30 years in leadership positions within operations and engineering in the telecommunications industry. In his current role, Mr. Hoffmann spearheads the operations organization, overseeing the installation, maintenance, and repair of all network assets throughout Florida. This encompasses key areas such as Construction, Field Services, Project Management, Logistics, and the Network Operations Center.
Mr. Hoffmann has held several notable leadership positions, showcasing his proficiency in navigating the complexities of the telecommunications landscape. Prior to joining Summit Broadband, he served as the Senior Vice President of Operations and Fulfillment at FiberLight. His tenure also includes a role as Vice President of Service Delivery and Fulfillment at Lightpath and as Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations at FiberNet Telecom Group.
Mr. Hoffmann’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and a Master of Science in Telecommunications and Computing Management from Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
Torryon Coleman joined Summit Broadband in January of 2022. Torryon is responsible for Network Architecture, OSP Design, and Network Systems for Summit’s statewide network. His areas of focus for the network are reliability, scaling, visibility, programmability, and service orchestration.
Torryon has over 25 years of industry experience across several service providers. Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Torryon led Network Engineering for Hargray Communications. He also held executive roles including product development, engineering operations with Wide Open West and Cox Communications. His knowledge, experience, influence, and leadership has evolved engineering and operation efforts in IP and Optical Networks, IP Video, Metro Ethernet and Voice over IP.
Torryon served in the U.S. Air Force as communication specialist and earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He also participates with several industry bodies such as Society of Cable TV Engineers (SCTE), National Content and Technology Cooperative (NCTC). He also supports several vendor partners executive forums.
Jim Lamb joined Summit Broadband in February 2020. With nearly thirty years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Jim is responsible for Summit’s Commercial division which consists of Enterprise, GovEd, and Hospitality sales, Wholesale, Channel and Business Development. Jim is also responsible for managing the engineering and marketing groups supporting those functions.
Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Jim led Enterprise Sales efforts in numerous Florida markets for CenturyLink/Lumen, as well as the Government and Public Safety sectors. He also held various leadership positions with Sprint, Embarq, and CenturyLink in sales, sales operations, and marketing.
Jim has served on numerous boards including the Collier County Economic Development Council and CareerSource of Southwest Florida and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.
Smruti Naik joined the company in beginning of 2024, as VP, Information Technologies. Smruti has 22 years of extensive technology experience and 15+ years of telecom industry experience. Her passion for applying emerging technology trends for solving business problems aligns perfectly with Summit’s goals. Smruti has an extensive background in building high performing software engineering and operations teams and has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation throughout her career. In her current role, Smruti leads Summit’s software development, digital transformation, cyber security, and platform operations across all business segments. She believes in innovation, collaboration, and commitment to excellence.
Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Smruti held a leadership position at COX Communications. She has a Bachelor of Science degree and attended Georgia State University for Master’s in Computer Science.
In December 2021, Danny Gonzalez was appointed to Vice President of Customer Experience, overseeing Customer Care, Community Account Management, Launch, and Retail Store channels. He is responsible for orchestrating and providing leadership over the transformation of the customer journey which informs the organizational key decisions that will drive sustainable growth, while delivering an exceptional customer experience. He possesses a motivational management style and has a proven record as a change agent, with broad experience in broadband, Marketing and Sales, Residential Sales, and Strategy and Operations.
Previously, Danny served as Sr. Director, Voice of the Customer at Breezeline where he led customer experience initiatives across the business. Prior to, Danny worked for Comcast for more than a decade serving in several senior leadership roles in the southwest Florida market.