As 2025 came to a close, CostQuest marked an important milestone: 25 years since our founding. What began as four consultants working together to solve complex challenges for commercial telecommunications companies has grown into a team of more than 65 employee-owners.
This last year, our team turned ambition into momentum – and momentum into outcomes. We expanded how customers and partners access our data – launching new products, strengthening APIs, and advancing platforms like TrueVerra.io. We also supported new and evolving federal use cases, including HUBB and Universal Service Fund filings, helping stakeholders move from data to insight more quickly and with greater confidence.
Across our focus areas, the breadth of work completed this year was significant:
- Broadband in America Report: We launched a monthly report tracking changes in BDC-reported broadband availability by technology, offering a timely view of how access is evolving nationwide. In parallel, we prepared comprehensive deep dives aligned with the Fabric’s biannual updates to examine changes holistically.
- Federal policy and the Fabric: We continued our close collaboration with the FCC and NTIA to ensure the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric remains accurate, trusted, and fit for purpose as the foundation for national broadband planning and funding decisions.
- Data visualization: Our teams delivered intuitive dashboards that combine FCC BDC availability data with CostQuest’s Location Fabric, enabling clearer analysis of broadband availability and market trends.
- Partnerships: We deepened collaborations and created CQI – CostQuest, Quadra Partners, and ITG (formerly Tilson) – to support State Broadband Offices through the unprecedented BEAD post-award oversight process. We closed out the year with our first Fabric Forward event – bringing together people from all spaces in the telecom industry to learn from our team and partners on current industry hurdles.
- Custom services: We continue to deliver custom solutions for both public and private sector clients. Our client base expanded with Capital Advisory expansion into loan appraisals. We closed out BEAD bidding and scoring projects with states and our consultants prepared for the upcoming tax season.
Today, as an employee-owned company, we are proud stewards of work that helps guide billions of dollars in broadband investment through pioneering geospatial data and methodologies. As we look ahead to our next quarter century, we are bringing in the next generation of CostQuest leadership. I’m proud to share our new executive team:
- Dan Gordon, Chief Product Officer
- Mark Guttman, Chief Solutions Officer
- Cher Henton, Chief Revenue Officer
- Elizabeth Meiszer, Chief Operating Officer
- Richard Rousselot, Chief Technology Officer
- Jim Stegeman, Chief Executive Officer
- Robb Stohlman, Chief Information Officer
This leadership team brings deep operational, technical, and commercial expertise. Together, they are well positioned to accelerate innovation, strengthen customer outcomes, and scale our impact across public- and private sector initiatives.
As we enter 2026, I’m energized by what lies ahead. The coming year will focus on scaling what works –enhancing product usability, deepening policy implementation, and ensuring broadband investments translate into meaningful connectivity for communities across the country. I’m deeply grateful to our employees, partners, and customers for their trust and collaboration, and I look forward to what we will accomplish together.
Cheers,
Jim