Leadership
KURT VAN WAGENEN
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Kurt Van Wagenen joined Summit Broadband as Chief Executive Officer in May 2023. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Van Wagenen is a veteran of the telecommunications industry and brings his background in corporate strategy and integration; engineering and operations; and consumer sales and service. Mr. Van Wagenen leads the company as it continues the strategic expansion of its fiber-optic network into new enterprise, government, education, and residential communities in Florida.
Mr. Van Wagenen has held many leadership positions over the course of his career. Prior to joining Summit Broadband, he was President, CEO, and Board Chair of FirstLight Fiber. Mr. Van Wagenen’s experience also includes serving as President and CEO of FiberTower Corporation and, prior to that, NEON Communications. Mr. Van Wagenen 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.
Mr. Van Wagenen 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.
Mr. Van Wagenen 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
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Mark Rankin joined Summit Broadband in February 2021. With more than 25 years of accounting and finance experience – 17 years of which has been in the telecommunications industry – Mr. Rankin is responsible for all accounting and audit, tax, fleet, procurement, financial reporting and treasury functions of the company.
Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Mr. Rankin was CFO of Armstrong Telecommunications, where he was responsible for the financial operations of the cable and telephone divisions of the Armstrong Group of Companies. His telecom background includes financial reporting, strategic initiatives, audit, tax, fleet, purchasing and contract negotiations.
Mr. Rankin is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting from Slippery Rock University and is a board member of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC).
RANDALL COVARD
Vice President, Legal & People Operations
Randall Covard joined Summit Broadband in July 2020. With nearly a decade of legal experience in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Covard advises the company and its stakeholders on all legal matters and oversees its Human Resources functions.
Prior to joining Summit Broadband, Mr. Covard 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.
Mr. Covard earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from John Marshall Law School and also holds a degree in Education from Elizabethtown College.
DANNY PATE
Executive Vice President, Operations
Danny Pate joined Summit Broadband in May 2022. He has 32 years of telecommunications and leadership experience. In his role, Mr. Pate oversees Engineering, Field Operations, Network Operations, Customer Care and Service Delivery.
Mr. Pate’s career evolved through the mergers of Sprint, Qwest, CenturyLink and Lumen, where he managed over 2,000 employees and a $250 million budget. His background encompasses Product, Network and Field Operations, Internet Tech Support, Systems evolution, Strategic Planning and Engineering, as well as Retail and Media Relations.
Mr. Pate holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Longwood University.
TYLER WALLIS
Executive Vice President, Residential Services
Tyler Wallis joined Summit Broadband in May of 2022. With 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Wallis is responsible for Strategy, Sales and Marketing for all of Summit’s Residential Services.
Prior to Summit, Mr. Wallis led Sales and Business Operations for Google Fiber’s build out and launch in San Antonio. He has also held senior-level consumer marketing and product roles with Cricket Wireless, Qwest Communications and AT&T.
Mr. Wallis received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University.