Meet the Team

James (Jim) Capuano was named Horizon’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on July 23, 2020. Jim has over 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. Prior to joining Horizon, he served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of FirstLight Fiber, in Albany, NY.  During his time with FirstLight, Jim oversaw multiple major network expansion initiatives and the integration of more than nine separate acquisitions that ultimately resulted in the largest fiber optic network in Northern New England and New York State. Jim’s other professional roles have included Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Unite Private Networks, in Kansas City, MO, COO at Veroxity Technology Partners, in Bedford, MA and Vice President of Engineering and Operations at RCN Metro, in Westborough, MA.  In these positions, he led telecommunications engineering and operations, network construction, expansion selections and planning, product development, vendor assessment and selection, marketing, technical sales and business support.

Glenn Lytle joined the team in 2019 as the Chief Revenue Officer where he oversees the development and growth in Horizon’s enterprise space. He has over 20 years of experience in successfully building sales teams and expanding networks in the MidWest with his prior Vice President roles at Segra (formerly Lumos Networks) and Comcast. Glenn has sat on the Board of Directors for several Chamber of Commerce and technology councils.

Pete Holland, a 30-year veteran in the communications industry, including 19 years as CFO of both public and private companies. Pete is currently the CFO of Horizon, a regional fiber-optic network provider offering broadband services in southern and eastern Ohio, the Columbus and Indianapolis metropolitan markets and parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Michigan with headquarters in Chillicothe, Ohio. Earning his CPA license in 1990, although currently inactive, he began his career with Ernst and Young’s telecommunications consulting division. He later worked in several business development and strategy positions with Nextel and was a founding partner of The Pinnacle Group, a telecommunications consultancy. He has served on various industry boards throughout his career.

Meredith Irwin joined Horizon’s engineering team in 2011 as the company was expanding into southern and eastern Ohio. Following completion of her MBA, Meredith joined the finance team in 2015. Meredith soon became the primary modeling and forecasting “point person” for Horizon’s executives and Board of Directors where she provided integral, in-depth leadership analyses. Now, as Horizon’s Vice President of Finance, she coordinates with the finance and accounting teams, works directly with primary equity partner (Novacap), lenders, and external counsel, leads the forecasting and budgeting processes, and champions M&A activity alongside the CFO. Beyond the office, Meredith enjoys spending time with her husband and two small children.

Joanne Salisbury joined Horizon in September 2021 and brings more than two decades of telecommunications experience to the leadership team. She has developed a keen, process-driven understanding of all facets of company operations and grown a host of strategic relationships with carriers. Joanne has held various upper management roles at companies such as FirstLight Fiber, Crown Castle and Veroxity Technology Partners. “I’m grateful to be joining a company that exhibits such a commitment to customer and community care — on top of delivering exceptional network services and robust communications capabilities across regions and to organizations that truly depend on them,” noted Joanne upon her arrival at Horizon.

Brian Riley is a visionary transformation champion who is passionate about technology. In his current capacity as Senior Vice President of Operations at Horizon, he has been able to apply this passion to help drive a rural communications company into a high-growth, private equity backed powerhouse. Prior to joining Horizon, Brian served in multiple senior executive and leadership roles for Frontier Communications and Verizon throughout the United States. He currently resides in the Columbus, Ohio area with his wife Erinn, two daughters and their Irish Setter dog. He and his family enjoy traveling, camping, flying, and playing several sports together!

Joey Holibaugh, a graduate from Wooster College, is a talented and seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in Telecom. He brings a wealth of expertise with particular strengths in areas such as enterprise, wholesale and carrier sales, market expansion, merger integration, profit and loss reporting (P&L), and both financial strategy and long term budgetary oversight. With an abundance of sales and sales leadership experience, Joey has a strong understanding of how to turn complex strategies into simple actionable plans.