The third day of RTIME Online brought good tidings from the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), a look at business trends for the coming decade, thanks from FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and an inspirational message from the first African American Army Surgeon General.
The virtual program kicked off with welcoming remarks from Barry Adair, secretary-treasurer for the NTCA Board of Directors and its Northeast Region Cooperative representative, followed by an update from FRS Executive Director Pam Becker and Chairman Keith Gabbard.
FRS announced it awarded more than $87,000 in scholarships to deserving students in 2020 and plans to award another $92,000 in 2021, including the new James L. Bass legal scholarship. Becker and Gabbard encouraged NTCA members to apply for community grants, which provide support for educational technology, emergency services and broadening health care options for rural communities. Applications for the grants will open in April.
In what resembled a virtual meeting of college friends more than a telecom industry panel, “The Soaring 20s” explored diversification of business lines in 2020, a year when many Americans dropped traditional TV to embrace broadband-enabled streaming services. Ben Foster, president and chief executive officer of ISG Technology / Twin Valley Telephone (Clay Center, Kan.), said exiting IPTV provided an opportunity to focus on hosted voice and managed IT services. Jason Miller, general Manager of Delhi Telephone Co. (Delhi, N.Y.), said 2020 was about one thing for the telco: installing more new customers than ever before, thanks to grants and unprecedented demand brought on by the pandemic.
“We’ve gone from 350 miles (of fiber) to over 1,100 miles,” Miller said. “We're hooking up customers as fast as we can.”
But even as more companies have shifted their gaze from the core services of voice, video and data, Foster, Miller and Ross Petrick, chief executive officer of Alliance Communications (Garretson, S.D.) agreed the key question remains, “what can we do for our members?” Alliance doubled down on customer service by encouraging employees to go above and beyond and to share positive customer feedback with each other, which proved to be a pandemic rallying cry.
In his first presentation to NTCA as a member of the commission, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington expressed thanks and appreciation for NTCA members’ work to keep rural Americans connected and noted the agency is working to help providers continue serving families affected by the economic downturn through the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program.
“If we work together on this, we will ensure that every responsible provider who wants to participate in the EBB will have a road to doing so on equal terms,” Simington said.
Finally, Sheldon Peterson, chief executive officer of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. and the Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative (RTFC), presented an economic outlook for 2021, his last as leader of the lender, as he is retiring later this year. And Nadja West, the first African American Army Surgeon General and former Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command, ended the afternoon on a high note as she delivered an uplifting message on the importance of optimism and teamwork in times of uncertainty. West noted leaders influence others “by our words and our deeds,” and reflected on the chaos brought by political strife, a global health crisis and the attack on the U.S. capitol.
“Now more than ever we need good leaders who can uncover the silver linings amidst chaos to inspire their teams,” West said.
RTIME Online will conclude with the Closing General Session, Business Session and presentation of the 2020 eXcellence Awards on Thursday, March 4.
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