An Investigative Report...
The president of Cherokee Connex, Ron Gates, a wi-fi company seeking Grove as a customer, has also been involved in a Muskogee business failure which may cost that city $1.3 million, and a Tulsa based company called MasterMind Internet Services, Inc. which in 2000 was found by the FCC to have violated the competitive bidding process in applications filed on behalf of school districts in Oklahoma.
Gates and Danny George, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, made a presentation Oct. 16 to the Grove Industrial Development Authority board on building a mesh wi-fi system in Grove that would cost about $500,000, plus the cost of new wi-fi metering devices for gas and water. Cherokee Connex is in the process of installing wi-fi systems in Vinita, Miami and Pawnee.
This week, a huge call center in Muskogee, Summit Call Center, closed. The City of Muskogee in 2003 gave the call center $550,000 for the center's technology infrastructure and also put up $750,000 so the center could add 500 additional seats. If the goals were not met the city was to be reimbursed. Muskogee County Commissioners also approved $3.5 million in industrial bonds to help fund the center.
The last 15 employees who had not been paid in a month walked off their jobs in September and the center had furloughed most of its 75 employees July 20. The last paycheck the employees received bounced.
Ron Gates was listed in 2004 as President of Summit Call Center, Summit Technology Park, and Cherokee Connex, according to The Muskogee Phoenix.
The money the city invested in the project was raised through a one-half cent sales tax passed in 2001, and according to the Muskogee Phoenix, the city has no hopes of recovering its $550,000 investment and is talking to attorneys about recovering its $750,000.
The $3.5 million in industrial bonds is not believed to be at risk because Summit paid Muskogee $4.2 million to cover the 30-year bonds. The money was deposited to pay off the bonds as they matured. Muskogee County also has a second mortgage on the Summit property and personal guaranties from the Summit principals.
Summit Technology Park was managed by Ron Gates and was built to house up to 7,500 people with three shift facilities in a 269,000 square-foot building, on a 22-acre campus.
The call center opened in 2003 and said it would employ 250 within one year and have 400 employees at the end of two years.
MasterMind Too Involved in Helping Schools Apply for Federal Subsidies
In July, 2000, 120 small schools in Oklahoma were denied about $20 million in subsidies for internet service when the FCC ruled that their applications violated the program's competitive bidding requirements.
Eventually, more than 265 applications for discounted services in Oklahoma, filled out by MasterMind, also known as Edumaster.net, were rejected. In the meantime, through the first 22 months of the E-rate program, MasterMind received close to $2.3 million worth of payments in the form of either reimbursement checks or discounts on invoices.
The President of MasterMind was Ron Gates.
MasterMind, in its appeal of the FCC ruling, said that although it assisted school districts in the application process, it did not sign or complete the applications. The FCC says that MasterMind violated the Commission's Competitive Bidding Requirements because its employee, Chris Webber, was listed as the contact person on the applications. Webber maintained that he helped write the grant writing applications because the small schools in question were struggling to answer questions because they didn't have a technology director on site. Eventually, some 312 additional applications from school districts across the nation were disqualified by the FCC.
The offices of MasterMind were listed at 1217 E 48th Street in Tulsa, the same offices as Cherokee Connex. Its website says it is a leading internet service provider to cities and rural areas of Oklahoma, based in Tulsa.
Cherokee Connex recently "cut the wire" on new wi-fi installations in Vinita and is installing new mesh systems in Pawnee and Miami, according to presentations made to Grove's GIDA. It is 50% owned by the Cherokee Nation. The largest individual owner is Ron Gates, according to his presentation at the recent GIDA meeting.
Sources:
ESchool News On Line, July 1, 2000, "A Stitch in Time" by Gregg W.Downey
ESchool News On Line, July 1, 2000, "FCC ruling spikes eRate funds, by Cara Branigan.
Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, Sept. 2000 by Sara Fitzgerald
FCC Ruling re MasterMind Internet Services, Inc. adopted May 11, 2000.
E-Rate News, March 24, 2000, FCC Weighing Proper Role of Vendors in Application Process
www.CherokeeConnex.com
www.edumaster.net
The Muskogee Phoenix: www.muskogeephoenix.com
(Editors Note: Ron Gates is not to be confused with Ron Cates, the Grove City Attorney. Our phone calls to Ron Gates were not returned by deadline time.)
Gates and Danny George, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, made a presentation Oct. 16 to the Grove Industrial Development Authority board on building a mesh wi-fi system in Grove that would cost about $500,000, plus the cost of new wi-fi metering devices for gas and water. Cherokee Connex is in the process of installing wi-fi systems in Vinita, Miami and Pawnee.
This week, a huge call center in Muskogee, Summit Call Center, closed. The City of Muskogee in 2003 gave the call center $550,000 for the center's technology infrastructure and also put up $750,000 so the center could add 500 additional seats. If the goals were not met the city was to be reimbursed. Muskogee County Commissioners also approved $3.5 million in industrial bonds to help fund the center.
The last 15 employees who had not been paid in a month walked off their jobs in September and the center had furloughed most of its 75 employees July 20. The last paycheck the employees received bounced.
Ron Gates was listed in 2004 as President of Summit Call Center, Summit Technology Park, and Cherokee Connex, according to The Muskogee Phoenix.
The money the city invested in the project was raised through a one-half cent sales tax passed in 2001, and according to the Muskogee Phoenix, the city has no hopes of recovering its $550,000 investment and is talking to attorneys about recovering its $750,000.
The $3.5 million in industrial bonds is not believed to be at risk because Summit paid Muskogee $4.2 million to cover the 30-year bonds. The money was deposited to pay off the bonds as they matured. Muskogee County also has a second mortgage on the Summit property and personal guaranties from the Summit principals.
Summit Technology Park was managed by Ron Gates and was built to house up to 7,500 people with three shift facilities in a 269,000 square-foot building, on a 22-acre campus.
The call center opened in 2003 and said it would employ 250 within one year and have 400 employees at the end of two years.
MasterMind Too Involved in Helping Schools Apply for Federal Subsidies
In July, 2000, 120 small schools in Oklahoma were denied about $20 million in subsidies for internet service when the FCC ruled that their applications violated the program's competitive bidding requirements.
Eventually, more than 265 applications for discounted services in Oklahoma, filled out by MasterMind, also known as Edumaster.net, were rejected. In the meantime, through the first 22 months of the E-rate program, MasterMind received close to $2.3 million worth of payments in the form of either reimbursement checks or discounts on invoices.
The President of MasterMind was Ron Gates.
MasterMind, in its appeal of the FCC ruling, said that although it assisted school districts in the application process, it did not sign or complete the applications. The FCC says that MasterMind violated the Commission's Competitive Bidding Requirements because its employee, Chris Webber, was listed as the contact person on the applications. Webber maintained that he helped write the grant writing applications because the small schools in question were struggling to answer questions because they didn't have a technology director on site. Eventually, some 312 additional applications from school districts across the nation were disqualified by the FCC.
The offices of MasterMind were listed at 1217 E 48th Street in Tulsa, the same offices as Cherokee Connex. Its website says it is a leading internet service provider to cities and rural areas of Oklahoma, based in Tulsa.
Cherokee Connex recently "cut the wire" on new wi-fi installations in Vinita and is installing new mesh systems in Pawnee and Miami, according to presentations made to Grove's GIDA. It is 50% owned by the Cherokee Nation. The largest individual owner is Ron Gates, according to his presentation at the recent GIDA meeting.
Sources:
ESchool News On Line, July 1, 2000, "A Stitch in Time" by Gregg W.Downey
ESchool News On Line, July 1, 2000, "FCC ruling spikes eRate funds, by Cara Branigan.
Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, Sept. 2000 by Sara Fitzgerald
FCC Ruling re MasterMind Internet Services, Inc. adopted May 11, 2000.
E-Rate News, March 24, 2000, FCC Weighing Proper Role of Vendors in Application Process
www.CherokeeConnex.com
www.edumaster.net
The Muskogee Phoenix: www.muskogeephoenix.com
(Editors Note: Ron Gates is not to be confused with Ron Cates, the Grove City Attorney. Our phone calls to Ron Gates were not returned by deadline time.)
posted by Editor | 2:00 AM
2 Comments:
This is interesting stuff. I hear the city managers staff is dealing with this man right now on some sort of service for Grove.
One thing that this article doesn't mention is that many of those schools that were awarded Mastermind E-rate money had to retroactively pay back almost two years of their E-rate funds. Most of the institutions were smaller schools with limited budgets. Having to pay back two years of E-rate money was quite a financial blow to those schools.
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