It was 70 degrees in Minnesota on Saturday – a record for Minneapolis. This was a good 25 degrees above normal. Of course, that meant I was destined to come to work this week with every muscle in my body sore from my weekend warrior efforts.

Two things always call out to me each spring: remove the grime from the winter’s wear on my garage and get a head start in the yard. 

As I was heading to our local greenhouse for weed killer and fertilizer for the areas under my evergreens, my husband was quick to ask if I was sure the 16 pound bucket was going to be enough for “this farmer’s daughter.”

Spring is also “build season” for fiber. All winter, the industry is preparing and planning. Don’t get me wrong, there’s much to do in bringing fiber deeper into our customers’ networks all year long. But as the ground unthaws and the sun gets a little higher in the sky, construction crews take on a busier pace – regardless of whether you call southern Florida or southern Alaska home.

As I’ve traveled this winter, I noticed the energy and optimism of the industry has been higher and broader than any time in our history. This mood has also been reflected back home. As we’ve announced in our financial releases, Clearfield is systematically building an expanded infrastructure that provides scalable manufacturing capacities without significant increases in overhead. We’ve also used the winter months to expand our sales, marketing, product management and engineering resources to ensure the quality of service and response time remain world-class as we position the Company for wider-scale deployments.

So, while it’s not quite spring yet – and we’re expecting snow flurries in Minnesota later this week – preparations are underway in my garage, my backyard, and throughout Clearfield’s development and manufacturing facilities for 2016.