Thursday, May 3, 2007

Local internet service sells to Buhler company

by staff reports

Wildflower Internet Services, headquartered at Buhler, has purchased Grasshoppernet from the Kearns family.

Grasshoppernet is the local Internet provider, serving the north half of Jefferson County.

Daniel Friesen, president of Wildflower, notified customers of the sale in a letter last week.

The company, which has acquired a few more small Internet providers, assured customers that nothing will change in regard to their service, except continued improvements over time.

Wildflower consists of 12 employees and Friesen and his wife, Sarah, are the majority owners. She is a reading therapist and the couple has one 14-month-old child.

Grasshoppernet was started in Valley Falls by father and son, Terry and Joe Kearns, in mid-June 1996. Kearns wanted local Internet access for his own use, and thought others might also be interested in sharing a data line accessible through a local dial-up number.

His initial goal was 30 customers at $30 a month, which would pay for the phone lines required to connect to the Internet. A 386 computer with modem was the technology required to connect at that time.

Grasshoppernet later expanded local dial-up service into the areas of Winchester, Nortonville, Easton, and Oskaloosa, and for a few years Effingham and Lancaster were also served.

Since its start, Grasshoppernet had been owned and operated by the Kearns family. Terry’s wife, Mary Jo, and daughter, Jolie Kearns, have played customer support and business roles. Joe, along with local geek Bill Hughes have provided technical support. Terry died in 2004.