# Peter Loftin

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_Loftin
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_Loftin.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Loftin
> Source revision: 1335530006
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American businessman}}

{{Infobox person
| image              = Pete Loftin picture from his website.jpg
| caption            = 
| name               = Peter Loftin
| birth_name         = 
| birth_place        = [Denton, North Carolina](/source/Denton%2C_North_Carolina)
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1958|3|1}}
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2019|11|16|1958|3|1}}
| death_place        = [Miami, Florida](/source/Miami%2C_Florida)
| occupation         = Entrepreneur
| website            = {{URL|www.peterloftin.com}}
}}

'''Peter Terrell Loftin''' (March 1, 1958 – November 16, 2019) was an American telecom entrepreneur who founded Business Telecom, Inc. (BTI) when he was only 25 years old and built it up to a multimillion-dollar company that was eventually merged with Deltacom (now [EarthLink](/source/EarthLink)).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2003/07/14/newscolumn1.html|title=ITC DeltaCom, BTI to merge operations - Memphis Business Journal|publisher=|accessdate=25 September 2016}}</ref>

Loftin, age 61, died at his home in North Miami Beach, Florida on November 16, 2019.<ref name="Beth">{{cite web |title=Peter Terrell Loftin |url=https://www.levitt-weinstein.com/obituaries/Peter-Loftin/ |website=Beth David Memorial Gardens |accessdate=20 February 2020}}</ref>

==Career==
In 1983 Loftin founded Raleigh, North Carolina–based Business Telecom, Inc. (BTI).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2004/02/09/focus7.html?page=all|title=No. 7: Merger of BTI with ITC DeltaCom - Triangle Business Journal|publisher=|accessdate=25 September 2016}}</ref> In 1999, independent research group New Paradigm Resources ranked BTI seventh nationally among competitive local exchange carriers and BTI was considered one of the nation's top fifteen telecommunications companies, with over 60,000 customers and 600 employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1999/09/29/high-tech-company-readies-go-public |title=High-tech company readies to go public &#124; The Chronicle |publisher=Dukechronicle.com |date=1999-09-29 |accessdate=2016-09-25}}</ref>

Loftin served as chairman of the Board of BTI whose board members included Paul J. Rizzo, former vice-chairman of [IBM](/source/IBM),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_rizzo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828221103/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_rizzo.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 28, 2006 |title=IBM Archives: Paul J. Rizzo |publisher=03.ibm.com |date= |accessdate=2016-09-25}}</ref> and the former Dean of the University of North Carolina's [Kenan-Flagler Business School](/source/Kenan-Flagler_Business_School).

In 1997 BTI agreed to donate $3.1 million to Raleigh's Performing Arts Center,<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/1999/08/02/editorial3.html Many Cheers for Peter Loftin's Giving]</ref> with Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer stated that this was the largest private donation made to the city of Raleigh arts program at the time and that "Pete Loftin was the only one that showed interest" in helping fund the project. The city council voted to name the center after BTI, naming it the BTI Center for the Performing Arts.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/1997/03/31/story2.html?page=all |title=Fetzer defends BTI deal |publisher=bizjournals.com |date=1997-03-31 |accessdate=2016-12-09}}</ref> In 2005, it was renamed [Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts](/source/Duke_Energy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts) after [Progress Energy](/source/Progress_Energy_Inc) agreed to donate $7.5 million over the course of 20 years.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2005/07/25/daily20.html |title=Progress Energy to pay $7.5M for BTI Center naming rights |publisher=bizjournals.com |date=2005-07-27 |accessdate=2016-12-09}}</ref>

Business North Carolina Magazine named Loftin “North Carolina Entrepreneur of the Year”. In addition, NCEITA, the North Carolina Electronics and Information Technologies Association, awarded him and BTI the “Corporate Citizen of the Year Award” for providing free Internet services to the disabled in rural schools throughout North Carolina. He was then recognized for his contribution by the then [Governor of North Carolina](/source/Governor_of_North_Carolina), James B. Hunt.

After selling a portion of BTI, Loftin's involvement in the arts encouraged his purchase of [Casa Casuarina](/source/Casa_Casuarina) in 2000. Since owning Casa Casuarina he has restored it and turned it into a high-end boutique hotel and club as well as a luxurious residential property. Casa Casuarina is the former [Miami Beach](/source/Miami_Beach) Mansion of [Gianni Versace](/source/Gianni_Versace), who lived in the home from 1993 until his death in 1997. The home was built in 1930.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/06/13/why-the-125-million-versace-mansion-will-find-a-buyer/ |title=Why The $125 Million Versace Mansion Will Find A Buyer |work=Forbes.com |date= |accessdate=2016-09-25}}</ref> Loftin sold the home in 2013.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2013/09/17/versace-mansion-sells-for-415-million.html Versace Mansion's $41.5 million sale].</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/09/17/versace-mansion-sells-for-415-million.html|title=Versace mansion's $41.5 million sale disappoints|last=Frank|first=Robert|date=2013-09-17|work=CNBC|access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref>

In 2016, Loftin founded the largest new whiskey distillery in the United States.<ref>[http://www.wdrb.com/story/33141311/bardstown-bourbon-co-brings-new-ideas-to-historic-bourbon-trail A Bourbon Distillery Like No Other], WDRB News</ref> Bardstown Bourbon is the first-of-its-kind Collaborative Whiskey, Bourbon, and Rye Distilling Program located in [Bardstown, Kentucky](/source/Bardstown%2C_Kentucky).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=405106714&privcapId=405008675&previousCapId=405008675&previousTitle=The%20Bardstown%20Bourbon%20Company|title=Peter Loftin: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg|website=www.bloomberg.com|access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref> [Constellation Brands](/source/Constellation_Brands) acquired a minority stake in the company in 2016.<ref>[http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article108731252.html Constellation Brands Acquires a Minority Stake in the Bardstown Bourbon Company]</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/11/18/tbj-plus-founder-of-raleighs-bti-dies-downtown.html

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftin, Peter}}
Category:1958 births
Category:2019 deaths
Category:American Internet company founders
Category:American businesspeople in the telecommunications industry
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:People from Denton, North Carolina
Category:North Carolina State University alumni
Category:Whisky distillers

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Loftin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Loftin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Loftin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.