Contact: Lauren Gaydos, 703-351-2015
Dallas, Texas, (February 16, 2022)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association recognized nine rural telecom leaders who have shown exceptional commitment to their communities and the broadband industry during the 2022 Rural Telecom Industry Meeting and EXPO (RTIME).
The NTCA Excellence Awards recognize broadband providers who have gone above and beyond to support their customers and community members and to advance communications services in rural America. Winners are selected by the association’s Awards Committee comprising NTCA members. The 2021 NTCA Excellence Awards are sponsored by JSI and NECA.
“We are very fortunate to be surrounded by such talented and accomplished individuals in the telecommunications industry, and I am honored to be able to present them with the 2021 Excellence Awards,” said NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield. “The winners exemplify the values of dedication, service and innovation in the work and in their communities. I want to congratulate and thank each and every one of them for their contributions to our industry.”
The winners of the 2021 Excellence Awards are:
Associate Member Outstanding Achievement Award: Dee Herman, partner at Herman & Whiteaker, for his service as pro-bono counsel to the Foundation for Rural Service and for his tireless advocacy on behalf of NTCA members.
Community Outreach Award: Katie Kopplin, customer technology consultant at Lynxx Networks (Camp Douglas, Wis.), for her work as an entrepreneur and her community service in her small town.
Heroism Award: Chase Mitchell, outside plant technician at DTC Communications (Alexandria, Tenn.), for saving the life of an unconscious woman he saw while out driving his service truck.
James L. Bass Director Life Achievement Award:
- Glen Hardcastle, chairman of the board at North Central Telephone Cooperative (Lafayette, Tenn.), for his leadership in bringing grant funding to build out NCTC’s entire service area and bringing two FCC chairs to personally visit NCTC.
- Ardel Rice, director at SRT Communications (Minot, N.D.), for leading SRT’s transition from a telephone company to a broadband company and helping recover losses the region sustained from the 2011 flooding of the Souris River.
James L. Bass Manager Life Achievement Award: Richard Ruhl, general manager at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative (Kingfisher, Okla.), for his over 45 years of service at Pioneer, including over 26 years serving as general manager of one of the largest telecommunications cooperatives in the United States.
Key Employee Award: Tyler Aklestad, OSP network planner at Matanuska Telecom Association (MTA) (Palmer, Alaska), for his strong connections to the state of Alaska and his advocacy for safety in telecommunications.
Management Innovation Award: Wanda Tankersley, chief operating officer at MTA, for her initiatives to improve MTA’s product management and sales operations and the creation of a new Commercial Solutions team at MTA.
Outstanding Marketing Achievement Award: Kerry Youngren, marketing manager at MTA, for her brand modernization campaign, which has improved MTA’s net promoter score and led to MTA winning five “Best of Alaska” awards in 2021.
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovative change in smart rural communities across America. In an era of transformative technological developments, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are advancing efforts to close the digital divide by delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks. Their commitment to building sustainable networks makes rural communities fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit us at www.ntca.org.