While serving as the Director of Technology for Region 18 Education Service Center, Casey Ritchie has pioneered multiple programs for the benefit of Texas education. Mr. Ritchie secured $17.2 million in Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) funds to provide high-speed broadband to rural markets in the region.  Mr. Ritchie's diligence, organization, and attention to detail allowed Region 18 Education Service Center to be the only recipient of BTOP funds.  Mr. Ritchie's further efforts to secure and maintain partnerships with regional telecommunication companies ensured long-term sustainability of the project as they managed physical infrastructure and Region 18 ESC managed network operations. Construction and rollout took five years to complete and allowed for Region 18 ESC to serve as the Internet service provider. This allowed for even the most rural of LEAs to participate fully and flawlessly in video conferencing, streaming video, live web-based interactivity, virtual desktop/server systems, network based security systems, and more. Mr. Ritchie expanded districts technology by aligning technology services to E-Rate and assisting LEAs with securing E-Rate funds to increase technology adoption. Most recently, Mr. Ritchie has supported the creation of the Texas elearning network: escU.