For Immediate Release
Contact: Laura Withers, 703-351-2087, [email protected]
Missoula, Mont., (November 22, 2016)—Blackfoot Chief Executive Officer Bill Squires passed away from a brief illness Friday, November 18. Squires' career started with Blackfoot in April 2001, as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. He was named CEO in January of 2012. Squires' leadership, energy and commitment to customers have built Blackfoot into a leading, regional service provider of voice, data, cloud and IT services.
Squires was both a visionary and a leader in the telecommunications industry, serving for years as President of the Montana Telecommunications Association, the US Telecom Association’s Leadership Committee, and the Industry & Policy Committee of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. He also had incredible business acumen which served him well on a wide variety of boards, including: Missoula Economic Partnership, Vision Net (Great Falls), Syringa Networks (Boise), Alaska Power and Telephone, and CoBank (Denver). He was a trusted voice with state and federal policy makers and was a passionate advocate for Blackfoot.
Jason Williams, Blackfoot Chief Operating Officer, has been named the interim CEO. Williams, who has been with Blackfoot since September 2012, brings 20 years of telecommunications, business and legal experience to this role.
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Blackfoot offers advanced telecommunications and broadband solutions to customers throughout the region. Based in Missoula, Montana, Blackfoot serves homes and businesses in Montana and Eastern Idaho with voice, data, cloud and IT services. For more information visit www.blackfoot.com.
NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing more than 800 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.