Stacia Anderson and her two sisters, Gina Beardsley and Valerie Welch, started Just Be Candles & Crafts two years ago in Jamestown, Ohio. The charming, aroma-filled shop, situated among acres of corn and soybean farms, offers a variety of hand-poured jarred candles, accessories and other home decor items. Like most small business owners, they had challenges at launch – in this case a lack of access to high-speed broadband.

As a rural, small business that relies on online sales, fast internet was crucial for the trio's candle business to be successful. It was challenging to take inventory, process customer orders, and even create labels for the candles.

"At times, our internet would lose signal and we would have to stop and restart everything again," said Stacia. "Sometimes we waited as long as a day for restoration."

Six months ago, Just Be Candles was connected to Spectrum Business Internet, as part of Charter's subsidized Rural Construction Initiative. Stacia had reached out to Spectrum and learned her location was eligible for their faster Internet. Three days after signing up, Spectrum was onsite to complete an aerial fiber install from the utility pole to their building that connected her business smoothly. Just Be Candles subscribes to 400 Mbps Internet service and has the option to upgrade to 600 Mbps or even 1 Gig, if their Internet needs grow.

"We have been so impressed with the fast speeds and we can now get things done without losing a signal. Our online business is growing because of the ease of Spectrum's services."

Stacia Anderson, Co-owner, Just Be Candles

Now that Just Be Candles has reliable Spectrum Business Internet, Stacia said they can focus on growing their online presence to attract more product vendors, target more premium candle distributors, and grow their loyal customer base.

Just Be Candles is one of many small businesses that have benefited from Charter's investment in rural network expansion. Charter's multi-year subsidized Rural Construction Initiative is an investment of approximately $9 billion – a portion of which will be offset with over $2 billion in government support funding to ultimately connect approximately 1.75 million new homes and small businesses across the country. With 295,000 new locations activated in 2023 and an additional approximately 450,000 new locations expected to be activated in 2024, Charter is well underway to completing this expansion.

More information about Spectrum's commitment to expanding broadband access can be found here.