Sanger Mayor Frank Gonzales cuts the ribbon to celebrate the completion of Comcast's network expansion for the Kings River Technology Park in Sanger. Photo by Frank Lopez

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in front of Sanger’s City Hall Thursday to celebrate Comcast’s fiber network expansion for Kings River Technology Park.

Members of the community, local government, members of the police and fire department, and Comcast employees were present at the event, as well as a representative from the office of U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris.

The six-figure project aims to expand the fiber network for the area for better internet connectivity and high-speed services and to help the local economy.

The total cost of the expansion project was more than $300,000, with a $90,000 contribution from the City of Sanger. It took about 18 months to complete.

The Sanger expansion is just a small part of Comcast’s overall expansion of 140,000 miles of fiber optic cables across 39 states and the District of Columbia.

“We live in a global economy and high speed internet has become crucial, said Comcast’s Director of Sales Frank Ortiz. “Comcast really wants to reach out to local markets and provide that advantage.”

Matt Rogers, Central Valley District director for Senator Harris, honored the completion of the project on the senator’s behalf and said the fiber network expansion is an example of what can be accomplished when companies and communities work together.

“If you ever needed a great example of what a public-private partnership can really do in rural communities, this is a good example of that,” Rogers said. “For those of us, like myself, who live in these rural communities, we know how important these projects are.”

With the new technology park and improved internet network, there is hope that Sanger will become more attractive to businesses and companies to move in.

“I’m so proud and excited that this has come to fruition,” said Tammy Wolfe, president and CEO of the Sanger Chamber of Commerce. “This is something that is a marketable product and we can now tell large scale companies that we are on top of things. This gives us a huge marketing tool.”