Continued growth at Fast Forward creates more local jobs in Kearney, NE.
Kearney startup continues growth, with additional Nebraskan hire. Zach Jochum, joins the team as Data Collection Specialist leading field collection for Fast Forward.
Zach, originally from Kearney, will be driving many of the companies’ projects, building training material, and setting up contractors and other companies on properly utilizing the groundbreaking tech being created in Kearney.
“I love to travel and explore new places, and this allows me to see all that Nebraska, and even the United States has to offer. Before working with Fast Forward, I was a repair technician fixing devices such as cell phones and laptops, and I am excited to see how the skills I had learned will apply to the new technologies being used in the field,” said Zach.
CEO Dusty Birge mentioned, “the expanded utilization of our services from Electric utilities and municipalities, is bringing in new revenue into the state of Nebraska, allowing us to add jobs, truly grassroots growth. With Zach’s addition, we are able to respond even faster and create a category of outage mitigation that hasn’t ever been done on this scale through proactive maintenance.”
Dusty added, “having Zach join us is instrumental in building a repeatable process, and his passion for technology will aid us greatly! He started in June and has already collected data on his own...he is a quick learner for sure.”
Zach said, “In my free time I enjoy wakeboarding, rock climbing, building models, and spending time with friends. I am a bit of a collector; things like trading cards and action figures tend to spontaneously appear in my possession without me realizing. When I find myself not being busy with those things, my little parrot Mido keeps me company.”
When you see the car driving down the road, Fast Forward is using a suite of cameras to take photos of electric utility poles while in motion. From these images, issues and anomalies can be detected of components that are in the process of failing. When some of these components fail, the sparks and molten metal falls to the ground and can start a wildfire. Thus, with more frequent patrols, Fast Forward directly helps utilities reduce outage costs and frequency with a direct risk reduction of wildfire potential.
As the company continues to scale, Fast Forward is becoming a recognizable startup landmark amongst Nebraskans, as Chimney Rock is to countless pioneers as they blazed the western trails of migration.
NMotion graduate, Fast Forward was the recipient of a Nebraska Department of Economic Development, prototype award grant, which helped fund the initial milestones in the companies development. Paired in part with Invest Nebraska, Nebraska Angels, private investors, and a couple key banks like Union Bank and Trust and Pinnacle Bank, laid the foundation for Fast Forward to raise capital from outside the state in 2023 and expand services nationwide.
