The final full day of the NTCA Rural Telecom Industry Meeting & EXPO (RTIME) featured a business session, the closing general session and banquet.
The closing general session got underway with a Foundation for Rural Service update from Executive Director Jessica Golden, as well as an economic update from Sheldon Petersen, chief executive officer of the Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative.
Next, Michael Abrashoff, former U.S. Navy commander and author of “It’s Your Ship,” discussed creating a high-performance culture and ways to empower a team to take charge and use ingenuity and initiative to improve every aspect of the way things are done. The session concluded with a panel discussion, “Serving the Needs of the Community,” featuring anchor institutions discussing how they have worked with rural providers to solve challenges and serve the community.
The meeting wrapped up with a banquet lunch, during which several NTCA members received awards. Lynn Merrill, president of Monte R. Lee and Co. in Oklahoma City, Okla., received the Associate Member Outstanding Achievement Award. Jon Gravdahl, who is a master electrician at the West Central Telephone Association (Sebeka, Minn.), received the Heroism Award. Jimmy Blevins, chief executive officer (CEO) of Skyline Membership Corp. (West Jefferson, N.C), received the Management Innovation Award. The Outstanding Marketing Achievement Award was given to Merry Shepard, manager of product and marketing for Canby Telephone Association and Mount Angel Telephone Co. in Canby, Ore. Robert Kainz, who recently retired from the board of directors of Lakeland Communications Group, LLC (Milltown, Wis.), and Bill Hegmann, general manager of Southwest Arkansas Telephone Cooperative (Texarkana, Ark.), both received the Life Achievement–Director Award. The Life Achievement–Manager Award recipient was Allen Russ, CEO of ATMC (Shallotte, N.C.).
National Award Winners Named at NTCA Rural Telecom Industry Meeting & EXPO https://t.co/ukDUERV8PO#rtime16pic.twitter.com/gyqCTmnHqN
— NTCAconnect (@NTCAconnect) February 24, 2016
Planning for the 2017 RTIME in San Diego, Calif., is already underway. We’ll see you there!