Celebrating 110 Years R O U D 110 MEMB 1905-2015 ...Celebrating 110 Years 1905-2015 JULY 2015...
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Celebrating 110 Years 1905-2015 JULY 2015 NEWSLETTER Cochrane Cooperative Telephone (CCT) has been a proud community member for 110 years serving the Cochrane, Buffalo City and Waumandee areas. Originally organized on July 19, 1905 as Farmers Telephone Company to provide telephone service to our rural areas, CCT now serves over 1200 members with Telephone, Broadband and IPTV services. Rural telephone cooperatives were formed when the cost of expanding services to rural areas discouraged for- profit utilities from serving these areas. As a result, the cooperative model was oſten used to provide telephone services to rural communities. Today, telephone cooperatives serve about 5 percent of the U.S. population, but their service area covers more than 40 percent of the country’s land mass. Cooperatives have stood the test of time and remain an innovative and integral economic force. CCT is the smallest of the eleven telephone cooperatives in Wisconsin. Co-ops are owned by their members – the people who use the cooperative’s products and services – and are driven by service rather than profit. Cooperatives allow ordinary people to join together to gain economic power and to improve their lives and their communities. Our focus is on developing and giving back to our communities while helping people meet their technology needs with innovative and practical solutions. We actively seek opportunities to get involved in the communities we serve. At CCT, our mission is to deliver cuing edge technology to our customers and communities, providing exceptional customer care while connecting people and providing solutions. As is our tradition, we will continuously explore opportunities for development while keeping the cooperative stable and viable for decades to come as the area’s leading provider enriching rural communities. At the heart of CCT is our vision to be the rural technology provider most admired for its service, products and performance. COCHRANE CO-OP TELEPHONE 110 YEARS STRONG P R O U D C O M M U N I T Y M E M B E R 1 9 0 5 - 2 0 1 5 110 ANNIVERSARY th Madison, WI - WSTA, Wisconsin’s Broadband Association, recently recognized CCT with their Gigabit Community Award. The Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association (WSTA) held its 105 th Annual Convention in Lake Geneva, WI. As part of the event’s closing general session, the WSTA recognized member companies who have all-fiber optic networks allowing broadband speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (1Gbps) to their customers. “CCT joins other WSTA members who are seing the standard in Wisconsin for gigabit broadband and cuing edge broadband enabled products and services,” said Bill Esbeck, executive director of WSTA. “This is a great addition to Wisconsin’s gigabit broadband story. WSTA recognizes members who have 1Gbps broadband speeds available to their customer base. Broadband speeds of 1Gbps or higher are made possible through significant investment and deployment of fiber-optic networks. Broadband that is capable of 1Gpbs service is 100 times faster than the average national broadband speeds. “Cochrane Cooperative prides itself on our big city technology and small town customer service,” said Gina Tomlinson, CEO of CCT. “We are thrilled to offer leading-edge broadband through our all-fiber network. The WSTA Gigabit Community Award confirms that our community and customers have access to some of the fastest broadband in the state.” CCT has gigabit broadband throughout the City of Buffalo City, Village of Cochrane, and in our service areas in the Townships of Belvidere and Waumandee. “In 2013, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission challenged America to have at least one Gigabit Community in each of the 50 states,” said Esbeck. “Cochrane Cooperative and other private sector providers are showing the rest of the country that Wisconsin is up to the challenge.” GIGABIT COMMUNITY AWARD Gina Tomlinson CEO Ma Biesterveld Plant Manager
Transcript of Celebrating 110 Years R O U D 110 MEMB 1905-2015 ...Celebrating 110 Years 1905-2015 JULY 2015...
Celebrating 110 Years1905-2015
JULY 2015 NEWSLETTER
Cochrane Cooperative Telephone (CCT) has been a proud community member for 110 years serving the Cochrane, Buffalo City and Waumandee areas. Originally organized on July 19, 1905 as Farmers Telephone Company to provide telephone service to our rural areas, CCT now serves over 1200 members with Telephone, Broadband and IPTV services.
Rural telephone cooperatives were formed when the cost of expanding services to rural areas discouraged for-profit utilities from serving these areas. As a result, the cooperative model was often used to provide telephone services to rural communities. Today, telephone cooperatives serve about 5 percent of the U.S. population, but their service area covers more than 40 percent of the country’s land mass. Cooperatives have stood the test of time and remain an innovative and integral economic force. CCT is the smallest of the eleven telephone cooperatives in Wisconsin.
Co-ops are owned by their members – the people who use the cooperative’s products and services – and are driven by service rather than profit. Cooperatives allow ordinary people to join together to gain economic power and to improve their lives and their communities. Our focus is on developing and giving back to our communities while helping people meet their technology needs with innovative and practical solutions. We actively seek opportunities to get involved in the communities we serve.At CCT, our mission is to deliver cutting edge technology to our customers and communities, providing exceptional customer care while connecting people and providing solutions. As is our tradition, we will continuously explore opportunities for development while keeping the cooperative stable and viable for decades to come as the area’s leading provider enriching rural communities. At
the heart of CCT is our vision to be the rural technology provider most admired for its service, products and performance.
COCHRANE CO-OP TELEPHONE 110 YEARS STRONG
PROU
D COMMUNITY MEMBER
1905-2015
110ANNIVERSARY
th
Madison, WI - WSTA, Wisconsin’s Broadband Association, recently recognized CCT with their Gigabit Community Award.
The Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association (WSTA) held its 105th Annual
Convention in Lake Geneva, WI. As part
of the event’s closing general session, the WSTA recognized member companies who have all-fiber optic networks allowing broadband speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (1Gbps) to their customers.
“CCT joins other WSTA members who are setting the standard in Wisconsin for gigabit broadband and cutting edge broadband enabled products and services,” said Bill Esbeck, executive director of WSTA. “This is a great addition to Wisconsin’s gigabit broadband story.
WSTA recognizes members who have 1Gbps broadband speeds available to their customer base. Broadband speeds of 1Gbps or higher are made possible through significant investment and deployment of fiber-optic networks. Broadband that is capable of 1Gpbs service is 100 times faster than the average national broadband speeds.
“Cochrane Cooperative prides itself on our big city technology and small town customer service,” said Gina Tomlinson, CEO of CCT. “We are thrilled to offer leading-edge broadband through our all-fiber network. The WSTA Gigabit Community Award confirms that our community and customers have access to some of the fastest broadband in the state.”
CCT has gigabit broadband throughout the City of Buffalo City, Village of Cochrane, and in our service areas in the Townships of Belvidere and Waumandee.
“In 2013, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission challenged America to have at least one Gigabit Community in each of the 50 states,” said Esbeck. “Cochrane Cooperative and other private sector providers are showing the rest of the country that Wisconsin is up to the challenge.”
GIGABIT COMMUNITY AWARD
Gina Tomlinson CEOMatt Biesterveld Plant Manager
YOUR HOME. YOUR CO-OP
CCT AWARDS (3) $1,000 HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS
Cochrane Co-op TelephonePO Box 189
Cochrane, WI 54622608.248.2323
www.cochranetel.com
Cochrane Co-op Telephone is proud to announce our 2015 scholarship winners. Our scholarships are paid from unclaimed capital credit retirements.Andrew BremerJesse HornMichael OldendorfCongratulations to all 2015 Graduates!
A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
PROU
D COMMUNITY MEMBER
1905-2015
110ANNIVERSARY
th
At our Annual Meeting on April 21, 2015 I spoke about how special it is for CCT to be able to celebrate 110 years of proudly serving our Community. Our 2014 financials were reviewed along with discussion on the importance of our mission and vision statements. Change was discussed; change is hard, personal and un-nerving, but very necessary for us to remain strong and grow. Where would your coop be without change, would it even exist?
Co-ops care about their small rural community, which is why one of our core values is giving back to the community; in time, support and monetary donations. I addressed the national attention on the need for broadband in rural America and how CCT is leading the way. With 272 votes Julene Rohrer will be serving another five year term on our board of directors. The meeting was wrapped up with acknowledging Dick Brommerich for his 12 years of service on the board with several of those years as President.
This May CCT received recognition from the WSTA, Wisconsin’s Broadband Assn, as a Gigabit Community. This award confirms how valuable the fiber is to our future and how small does not equate to irrelevant or antiquated. As members of the cooperative you should be very proud of the technology that is available to our entire exchange area.
Gina Tomlinson CEO at CCT
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