For Immediate Release
Contact: Hillary Crowder, 703-351-2086, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (October 28, 2014)—Dozens of members of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association were invited to the White House Executive Office Building today for an event hosted by the White House Rural Council. The event, titled “White House Rural Council: Convening With NTCA–The Rural Broadband
Association,” focused on the association’s Smart Rural Community initiative. 
The Smart Rural Community initiative promotes rural broadband networks that assist local communities with economic development, commerce, education, health care and government services. The initiative encourages collaboration between both community leaders and community members. The event featured presentations from Smart Rural Community award winners Nancy J. White, chief executive officer of North Central Telephone Cooperative (Lafayette, Tenn.); Keith Gabbard, general manager of Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative (McKee, Ky.); and Brian Thomason, general manager and chief executive officer of Blue Valley Tele-Communications, Inc. (Home, Kan.).
“Members of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association are proven solutions providers when it comes to broadband services for the communities where they live and work,” said NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield. “We appreciate this opportunity to engage members of the administration who are also dedicated to improving education, health care, agriculture and public safety in rural America through broadband deployment.”
“Expanding telecommunications is a central component of this administration's comprehensive effort to build jobs and economic security in rural America,” said Doug McKalip, senior policy adviser for rural affairs for the White House Domestic Policy Council.
For more information about the NTCA Smart Rural Community initiative, please visit www.ntca.org/smart.
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 900 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of exploding technology, deregulation and marketplace competition, NTCA’s members are leading the IP evolution for rural consumers, delivering technologies that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development and commerce, education, health care, government services, security and smart energy use. Visit us at www.ntca.org.