To celebrate Tilson’s 28th anniversary in July, all month long we are featuring a few of our longer-tenured team members for our weekly Tilson Tuesdays employee spotlight. This week, meet John Costa!
John has worked with Tilson for nine years and currently serves as our Manager of Consulting Engineering on Tilson’s Telecom Consulting team. In his role, John manages an engineering consulting team that provides high-level and low-level designs, bill of materials, and other critical engineering project tasks as Tilson expands broadband access across the country. These projects can be privately funded or grant funded, with a focus on connecting unserved or underserved areas to high-speed internet access.
John’s favorite project at Tilson (so far) was the work his team did with the Seneca Nation, a Tribal nation in western New York. This involved deploying a grant-funded fiber broadband network from start to finish, including the funding plan, high-level design, cost estimates, and network construction. The result was a robust fiber network servicing customers that previously had limited internet options or no available service. The Seneca Nation now owns their own network, which has made a direct and positive impact on people’s lives.
As someone who has been with Tilson since the team had fewer than 100 employees and has seen it grow to over 1,400 people, John says he enjoys the ways Tilson has allowed him to evolve his skills and grow with the company.
“The best thing about Tilson is you can make a difference, lean in, and just go for it – you have the opportunity to reinvent yourself every 3-4 years because of the growth.”
Outside of work, John lives in Maine with his girlfriend Kristen and enjoys having access to both the beach and the mountains. They stay busy with skiing, riding motorcycles, and golfing (though they keep it fun by not keeping score). John has two kids and three grandchildren, and John is loving the chance to be a grandpa.
Fun fact: John not only rides motorcycles (he has two Harleys), but he also likes to build custom bikes.
You have been and continue to be integral to Tilson and its growth – thank you for being part of the team, John!
