About Smoky Mountain Techworks

This non-profit grew out of the work of the Swain County Broadband Committee. The committee is authorized by the Swain County Commissioners.  The founding members of Smoky Mountain Techworks are also members of the Swain County Broadband Committee:

• Leonard Winchester – Retired Director of IT, Swain County Schools
  Karen Cook – Director of IT, Swain County Schools
• Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff – Co-founder of Endless River Adventures, a Swain County based adventure company. 
• Julie Thorner – Founder and President of Liquid Spark, a Swain County based adventure tourism marketing agency. 

Our collective reason for founding SMTW – because Swain County needs better internet for households, organizations, and businesses in every part of the county, not just easy-to-access areas.

Current legislation penalizes counties in favor of ISPs (internet service providers) and makes it much harder to get ISPs to deploy in difficult mountainous regions.