Member Moments
Each of the nearly 850 independent, family-owned and community-based telecommunications companies that NTCA proudly represents plays a major role in their hometowns. They are made up of our neighbors, friends, and family members who are working hard to bring high-speed internet to the homes and businesses who rely on it.
NTCA's Member Moments page will highlight some of the great work occurring every day by these providers and their employees.
Encouraging Reading Outside the Classroom
While TDS Telecom (Madison, Wis.) focuses on connecting more than 280,000 customers to high-speed internet, it does not stop there when it comes to taking care of the community.
TDS partners with the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department to present the Book it with Bucky program, named after the school’s mascot Bucky Badger, to promote reading outside of the classroom for children. Students can earn various prizes, including tickets to University of Wisconsin sporting events, for every 30 minutes they read.
Read More.
Celebrating Two ‘Excellent’ Women
Karla Krause and Nancy White, two leaders in the broadband industry, were among those awarded 2023 Excellence Awards during 2024 RTIME for their exceptional commitments to their communities. The NTCA Excellence Awards recognize broadband providers who have exceeded expectations to support their customers and community members and to advance communications services in rural America.
A Series of Firsts for Cappabianco
NTCA is celebrating Women's History Month in March by sharing stories of women leaders in rural broadband. This week, we’re highlighting the history-making work of Madison Cappabianco, vice president of Monte R. Lee & Company (Oklahoma City).
Madison Cappabianco has been breaking barriers since she decided to enter the broadband industry.
Veteran Touts Importance of Broadband with President Biden
North Carolina resident Edward Smith received the call of a lifetime last week when he was asked to introduce President Joe Biden at an event touting the administration’s efforts to promote more broadband deployment across the state.
When Smith, a customer of FOCUS Broadband (Shallotte, N.C.), was presented with the idea of speaking before Biden, he said his first thought was, “This is for a good cause. I want to let everyone know the good that FOCUS is doing for my community.” Smith said he was also especially excited to represent his hometown of Tar Heel, home to just over 100 residents in rural North Carolina.
Highlighting the Benefits of Telehealth from Within
As telehealth use continues to grow nationwide, one NTCA member is showcasing – and experiencing – the benefits of the technology every day.
Julie Bergman, senior business development specialist at Rainbow Communications (Everest, Kan.), knows firsthand how important telehealth and telehealth advocacy can be for community members. Her godmother, Cindy, was diagnosed with Raynaud disease, Scleroderma and Pulmonary Hypertension.
Typical visits for Cindy’s conditions take her to the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in Kansas City, Kan., a two-and-a-half-hour drive from her hometown of Seneca, Kan. Telehealth visits have alleviated stress from her husband and family taking time off work to commute to and from doctor appointments.
DRN Installs Essential ER Telehealth in North Dakota
Access to high-quality healthcare just got easier for one North Dakota community thanks to high-speed fiber connectivity from its local provider.
DRN (Ellendale, N.D.) recently completed a telehealth project with Ashley Medical Center, a Level V trauma center and Acute Stroke Ready hospital which provides care for patients living in rural North Dakota.
First Digital Badge Awarded from NTCA-Northwood Tech Collaboration
Five months after launching the NTCA-Northwood Technical College Digital Badging collaboration, the program has its first graduate: Maggie Raethke, a customer relations specialist at NTEC (Durand, Wis.).
Raethke, a mom of two, said the flexibility within the program and its online courses were the main reasons why she enrolled.
Smart Rural Community Live Encourages Members to Tell Their Stories
This year’s Smart Rural Community Live came just days after Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program allocations were announced, with state broadband offices working to prioritize public private partnerships that providers are creating to help move this historic broadband funding effort forward. With this heavy focus on funding and rural communities, the gathering was an ideal opportunity to exchange ideas with others. There were also breakout sessions on telehealth, smart agriculture, economic development, esports and so much more.
Here are some conference takeaways from a few of the many conference moderators.
Missouri Co-ops Honor Local Veterans
Two Missouri cooperatives have joined forces to better their community through a “cooperative” of their own: Co-ops in Action.
Since 2017, Chariton Valley (Macon, Mo.) and Macon Electric Cooperative employees have organized community service projects to give back.
Mosaic Technologies Employee Named Northwood Tech Distinguished Alumni
Northwood Technical College recently announced that Lynn Bender, director of engineering at Mosaic Technologies (Cameron, Wis.), was named a recipient of its 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Bender, a 1999 graduate of the Auto Collision Repair and Refinish program and a 2003 graduate of the Telecommunications Technician program, said he felt Northwood Tech helped him with real life experiences by being able to go to construction sites and having instructors who emphasized the background behind telecommunications and how it should be executed.
New Partnership Bringing Fast Fiber Network to Indiana
PSC (St. Meinrad, Ind.) and Southern Indiana Power are making big waves thanks to a partnership designed to bring faster fiber broadband to underserved and unserved communities in Indiana.
Within the last few years, PSC has deployed more than 1,500 miles of fiber to residents in rural parts of the state.
FCC Commissioner Visits DUO Broadband
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr joined members of DUO Broadband (Jamestown, Ky.) last week to see how the provider was building out high-speed fiber optic broadband in parts of underserved Adair County.
DUO Broadband CEO Tom Preston said the visit was a great opportunity to show Carr the gratifying but challenging work of bringing fiber to rural areas of Kentucky.
CTC Goes Behind the Scenes at the White House
When President Joe Biden announced hundreds of commitments by more than 350 organizations, including NTCA, to bolster workforce development and infrastructure jobs, representatives from CTC (Brainerd, Minn.) were on hand to not only see the press conference, but to highlight the importance of fiber, as well.
CTC CEO Kristi Westbrock and Splicing Technician Jeremy Przybilla flew to Washington, D.C., to join NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield at the White House and highlight three new partnerships as part of the Talent Pipeline Challenge, designed to promote jobs in infrastructure-related fields like broadband.
Members Pitch In to Overcome Catastrophic Flooding in Kentucky
The floodwaters from record-breaking rainfall in eastern Kentucky last July reached the doors of Thacker-Grigsby Communications (Hindman, Ky.) in the early morning, knocking out power and causing damage to many buildings and equipment, including 30 service vehicles. The company’s permanent generators were under water and all methods of communication were out. Within hours, providers from nearby were on the scene helping to get Thacker-Grigsby back online.
Hardy Telecommunications Connects West Virginia Senior Center
Residents of the Capon Valley View Senior Center gather for lunch to hear from area leaders and fellow residents regularly. But last month, when Hardy Telecommunications (Lost River, W.Va.) Assistant General Manager Derek Barr stopped by, residents were treated to the unveiling of the provider’s latest effort to bridge the state’s digital divide: free public internet access.
Using funds received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service Community Connect Program, Hardy Telecommunications was able to bring 24/7 public Wi-Fi access to the facility, as well as create an office with two computers and a shared printer for public use.
Line Worker at Scott County Telephone Inspiring Other Women to ‘Hang with Them’
Abbey Middleton, one of the first female line workers among NTCA member companies, never expected to be a line worker for the Scott County Telephone Cooperative (SCTC) (Gate City, Va.).
She wanted to join the Virginia State Police, but the agency requires applicants to be at least 21 years old. To spend the time until she was eligible to enroll as a trooper, Abbey talked to some people she knew and started taking classes as part of the Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) Power Lineman Program. “I didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “I like being outside. I like helping people.” Admittedly, though, she “was flying blind.”
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Email NTCA Digital Communications Manager Taylor Holland at [email protected]