Jeff Klause was born and raised in old Saint Boniface, an area with strong Metis and French community roots. As a Metis person with generations of family doing business in Manitoba, Jeff chose to raise his family and build a successful, socially responsible business in Manitoba.
As the senior executive at both Rainy Day and Voyageur Internet, Jeff has a hands-on approach that frequently finds him up signal towers working alongside his technical staff. A man of technology and vision, Jeff has the passion and drive to see his ideas through. His long track record of participating in successful R&D and technology projects that have been monetized and/or become thriving businesses is a testament to this vision. For the past several years Jeff has specialized in telecommunications and internet infrastructure. His companies continue to build out a network of towers serving a growing internet subscriber base throughout Manitoba.
A big concern in the wireless industry today is worker safety. The combination of harsh northern environments and the danger of working at heights has driven the search for better ways to serve these markets. Responding to the high costs and the dangers involved in erecting towers in Manitoba, Jeff sought prefabricated engineered solutions rather than relying solely on technical staff working at heights. After extensive research and several prototypes, Jeff and his team developed a system to deploy towers without climbing or cranes. Moreover, these methods have proven to reduce labour by 95% compared to traditional methods.
The ability for the company to scale and grow is expected to be greatly enhanced by these new methods. The new system allows a two man crew to build and erect a tower in one day anywhere and in all seasons. Each of these towers can support hundreds of subscribers within several kilometers of the tower.
During 2012 Jeff was invited to dozens of remote communities in Manitoba for the purpose of assessing their telecom and internet infrastructures. Jeff continues to share the knowledge required for communities to connect to the internet and reduce phone costs. He provides advice on developing direct fiber links to the internet, tower development, negotiating with industry suppliers, reviewing contracts, and developing effective solutions for remote communities. Jeff's unique ability to bridge cultures and to provide proactive and meaningful support allows these communities to realize their full potential with modern communications and technology infrastructures.
At the beginning of 2012, Jeff and a key industry partner, Leslie Bester, co-founded a not-for-profit organization known as the Manitoba Internet Exchange (MBIX). Funded largely by the Canadian Internet Registry Authority (CIRA) based in Ottawa, MBIX is an exchange designed to act as a junction between multiple points of Internet presence. Similar to exchanges operating in other metropolitan centres, MBIX provides a common meeting place for participating local internet service providers, to directly exchange local area messages thereby reducing the significant costs of bandwidth associated with transit in and out of non-local servers. By May 2013 MBIX is scheduled to go live with a very powerful core alongside the Akamai and Google caching servers and CIRA resources in Winnipeg. (www.mbix.ca)
Licensed Electrician - Province of Manitoba
Rescue Certified Tower Climber - Global
COR Certified Safety Inspector - Canada
Motorola Canopy Wireless Systems Certified Technician
CURRENT - MBIX.ca, Co-Founder, Secretary/Treasurer
CURRENT - The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Manitoba, Appointed Director
CURRENT - Manitoba Metis Federation, Member MW10960
CURRENT - Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, Member Representative
2008 Director Elect for JCI Winnipeg
2008 Golf Tournament Chair for JCI Winnipeg
2008 President Winnipeg Entrepreneur eXchange
2007 Winnipeg Chamber Board Member
2007 Downtown Winnipeg Biz Director
2006 Treasurer Elect for JCI Winnipeg