Ryan Seaburg ended the 2015 year making the local papers for a generous act. For the community, it was a wonderful donation given to the law enforcement of La Porte County, but for Seaburg and his employees, it was just a simple way to show their appreciation.
He did not want the press and did not want the recognition for this act, he said, though he was truly humbled by it. All he wanted was to tell those who protect over his community, ‘Hey, thank you for what you do.’
Seaburg is the owner of two businesses in La Porte, New Age Telecom Inc. and Qubit Networks.
He was born in Illinois, but attended college at Purdue University for construction engineering and management. There, he met his wife Sarah and the two of them eventually moved to La Porte after staying in the Chicagoland area for the first years of the marriage.
In 1999, Seaburg was hired into his father-in-law’s new business, New Age Telecom, which works within the structuring of data and voice wiring and telephone services.
“When I came to work there, I was installing structured cabling and telephone systems and then in the mid 2000’s we started to get into computer and data networking,” he explained.
It started in the IP systems of network computers, then progressed into firewalls, network security, and wireless, he added.
In 2011, Seaburg and his wife bought the company and then spun the engineering side of the company into a new business called Qubit Networks.
The two blend into each other and help each other. Those at Qubit are the engineers who design and program the work, then the New Age Telecom is the more blue-collar work, since these are guys who work with hammer drills and mount and install the products.
“For example in the Mishawaka schools, we installed about 400 wireless excess points for them,” he said. “So, the engineers specified which access points to use and programmed them, but then the New Age workforce were the ones who actually ran the wire and installed them.”
The businesses are lead each by a manager and include a great group of employees, Seaburg said, a group, which jumped on his end of the year idea to help the community.
Seaburg has always had the highest respect for the law enforcement and several members of his family are members of their local police force.
So, he called his cousin, a police officer in Washington and asked for advice on what to do.
“’Whatever you do, put it into the officer’s hands,’’’ Seaburg recalled him saying. His cousin said to also think of the family.
“Most police officers are pretty self-less individuals and you don’t get into that job looking for fame and glamour,” Seaburg said.
Seaburg and his staff came up with the idea of donating gift cards to the 208 members of the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department and the La Porte City Police Department. Overall, he donated gift cards toward various local restaurants, in which the owners were all supportive when Seaburg approached them with the idea.
He then called La Porte County Sheriff John Boyd and La Porte City Police Chief Adam Klimczak and informed them.
“It was a pretty powerful day when it happened. They had a couple of officers in the office and no one knew what was going to happen except for Boyd and a couple of people,” he said. “A lot of officers teared up and I had a lot officers in the community come up and thank me for it.”
“It was a group effort,” he added. “The company collectively made the money and we collectively gave to them.”
The donation was a simple act for the companies, but to the community, which sees and hears negative news often, it was a positive moment to praise.
“I love La Porte. I like the proximity of Chicago, I love the lakes, the parks, the churches, and the schools,” he said “There is sometimes an air of negativity in La Porte and the county, but I think we got a whole lot more good going than not.”
Seaburg grew up in a small Midwest town and in La Porte, has found that same environment again to raise his own kids. He has three: twin 17-year-old boys and one 13-year-old daughter who plays volleyball.
Grant plays basketball and football for La Porte High School and his brother, who lives with cerebral palsy, is the manager for the basketball team.
His sons got their sports-craze from him, Seaburg said, who calls himself a sports nut.
His family owns season tickets for the Chicago Bears and they travel to watch the Bears and their alma mater, Purdue University. Seaburg also serves on the La Porte Slicer Football Association to help raise money for the team.
As the days go by those within the community are working hard to better their hometown. The local teams are bettering themselves for the next win. And, Seaburg is there, cheering and helping when he can.