In 2019, Met Rec was approached by the owners of Wood Product Signs, a small, family-run business based in Parlin. Their reason for reaching out: internet.  For several years, owners Taylor and Emily Hefftner made the most of limited internet service.

Wood Product Signs manufactures custom signs for public land agencies across the country, including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service. Their signs greet residents and visitors at attractions nearby, such as the Curecanti National Recreation Area, and as far away as Puerto Rico. 

Taylor’s mother, Deb Hefftner, started Wood Product Signs in 1986. Since then, they have prioritized keeping Parlin as home base. They value the adventure and lifestyle the rural location brings. Until recently, they made-do with trade-offs such as lack of access to adequate internet services. 

This is why Wood Product Signs and local internet provider, XtreamInternet, looked to Met Rec for help. Not far from Wood Product Signs stands one of Met Rec’s twelve translator sites, historically used to relay over-the-air television signals across the landscape and to some of the area’s rural communities, including Parlin and the near-by Pitkin Townsite. 

In recent years, Met Rec has prioritized optimizing its translator sites to bring additional services to the areas they serve. This requires collaborating with other service providers, commonly referred to as multi-users, to accommodate their needs and equipment at our translator sites. Colorado Public Radio, KBUT Radio, Gunnison County Electric Association, Colorado Central Telecom, and now XtreamInternet, are among the multi-users Met Rec has partnered with. 

We’re often asked why Met Rec cannot simply provide internet services ourselves- and this is a good question.  As a Special District, Met Rec is bound by Colorado State Statute. The Statute outlines the services provided by Special Districts and the parameters in which they can be delivered.  When it comes to television service, we are required to deliver the service in relay fashion utilizing translator facilities. This means that we’re unable to provide television services via additional means, such as internet as a mechanism for streaming.  That is why we partner with other service providers by allowing them to utilize Met Rec’s existing, strategically located translator sites. 

This February, the XtreamInternet team successfully installed equipment at the Parlin translator site.  Not only is Wood Product Sings up and running, but surrounding Parlin neighbors are also looking to take advantage of the new service.  

For more information on internet service in Parlin and other remote areas, please contact XtreamInternet at 970.305.5855 or visit their website, www.xtreaminternet.com.