High Point, N.C. (July 25, 2024) – Lumos’ Chief Executive Officer, Brian Stading, was recognized as an honoree in the Triad Business Journal’s C-Suite Awards during the publication’s reception on July 25th at The Millennium Center. 

Stading is one of 15 honorees selected from a competitive pool of candidates in the Triad area for the C-Suite Awards and one of eight CEOs. 

Stading joined the executive team as CEO at a pivotal time in 2022 when North Carolina’s NorthState and Virginia’s Lumos Networks merged to form Lumos. Under Stading’s leadership, Lumos has expanded to 13 new markets across three states, with more expansion plans on the horizon. Most recently, Stading led Lumos to the announcement of a joint venture with T-Mobile, in April 2024. 

Lumos’ culture celebrates constant innovation to benefit customers, a building block that Stading continues to emphasize. With Stading at the helm, Lumos’ benefits exceed national benchmarks, such as higher employee retention and engagement scores than the national averages. 

“Brian utilizes his 37 years of telecom experience to relate with every individual within the company, no matter their role or title,” said David Smith, Lumos’ Chief Network Officer. “His leadership style reinforces our culture of being a customer-first company, and his dedication creates a difference in our customers’ lives and communities we serve and work in.”

Stading’s first job was as a telecom technician, where he learned all the different aspects of the industry, an insight he carried throughout his tenure at CenturyLink and Ziply Fiber and utilized in his current role as CEO of Lumos. From installing, maintaining, and repairing telecommunications equipment to leading Lumos through a $1.1 billion debt refinancing agreement to become the first U.S. company ever to refinance existing debt with Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (“ESG”)-linked infrastructure financing and spearheading Lumos’ joint venture with T-Mobile, Stading leads with tenacity and an emphasis on teamwork and innovation.  

“Brian embraces our growth challenge with excitement, clarity, and resilience,” said Karen Hoch, VP of Marketing at Lumos. “He anchors our team with integrity, transforming obstacles into opportunities and aspirations into achievements. He’s attentive to each employee, and they know that their voices matter, inspiring them to bring their best to work every day.”

“We aren’t just building new fiber routes and expanding our footprint,” Lumos Chief of Staff Bre Grandstaff said. “We are impacting the lives of children who can learn from home, improving the lives of parents who desire work-from-home roles, enabling telehealth access, and so much more. We are truly changing people’s lives through the delivery of fiber. I couldn’t be more appreciative to Brian for championing this mantra and enabling the Lumos Fiber team to deliver on our promises as a company to those we serve and hope to serve.” 

Under Brian’s leadership, Lumos helps families and small businesses prepare for the future by providing access to a network that is advanced enough for their work, school, health, entertainment, and general life needs. 

“Seeing firsthand how providing fiber internet to communities, especially in underserved areas, greatly improves the quality of life for residents has kept me in the industry,” said Brian Stading. “As society grows more digitally dependent, the speed and reliability of fiber internet become necessary for economic growth and development. The communities where we are building are growing exponentially, and they need an internet connection that is fast enough and reliable enough to support that growth.”

To learn more about Lumos and how it supports the communities it serves, visit https://www.lumosfiber.com/about/. 

About Lumos: Lumos provides 100% Fiber Optic Internet, whole-Home Wi-Fi, voice and streaming services, to more than 300,000 homes and businesses across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. We believe that the possibilities of tomorrow cannot be built on the infrastructure of yesterday. That’s why we’re building a 100% Fiber Optic network from the ground up for families, businesses, and communities, backed by local, expert customer service. An Internet built for that most hopeful of all things – the future. Because whatever the future holds, we make it faster. Learn more at www.LumosFiber.com.

Twitter: @LumosFiber

LinkedIn: @LumosFiber

Media Contact:

Emily Brice 

ebrice@fwv-us.com 

919-610-3319

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