MITS - Meet Our Staff

Mike Sheard received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in economics from MSU-Bozeman. He has been working in telecommunications since 1993, when he was hired as an economist for the Montana Public Service Commission. While at the Commission, Mike worked on a wide variety of significant telecommunications and energy issues at both the state and national levels. He also served as the vice-chairman of the telecommunications subcommittee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Mike has significant experience in planning and analysis for competitive telecommunications ventures, with particular emphasis on financial modeling. He currently manages the day-to-day activities of iConnect Montana, which constructs and operates data centers. These data centers provide neutral collocation and network connectivity services to telecommunications, e-commerce, and Internet-based businesses. He also provides a variety of business management and consulting services, as well as project coordination.

Bonnie Lorang received her B.A. from Carroll College and has engaged in post-graduate studies in education and business management. She has twenty-four years of management and regulatory experience with the Montana Public Service Commission.

Bonnie has been active in the development and analysis of telecommunications policy since 1996 at both the state and national levels. She served as a liason between Montana's education, library, and healthcare communities and the state's telecommunications providers in maximizing universal service funding support. She was also active as Commission staff to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners as it addressed a variety of regional and national issues.

Until recently, Bonnie served as staff chair of the FCC-State 706 Joint Conference on the Deployment of Advanced Services. She is also on the faculty of the New Mexico State University Center for Public Utilities which provides telecommunications training for new state Public Utility Commissioners and professional staff.

Loy Fraser received his B.S.E.E. training from the U. S. Armed Forces Institute, (sponsored by the University of Maryland). He has over 36 years of experience in electrical engineering, management, telecommunications, and Internet technology. Loy spent the last seven years building a start up Internet service provider business in Montana. Loy is equipped with a variety of skills required to deal with the many complex issues relating to the ever changing telecommunications industry affecting rural Montana. Loy’s extensive organizational, hands-on, practical experience and broad range of experience in today’s growing telecommunications industry makes him a valuable asset to the MITS team.