Quick Jump Menu to this Month’s Articles It Really Is a Wonderful Life FRED Video Debuts in Traverse City, Michigan CLEC or Bust USTA Telecom ’03 – Just Do It Psst! You Can See the White of Their Eyes
by Ken Pyle
July, 2003 Issue
Who can forget the impassioned speech by Jimmy’s Stewart character, George Bailey, in the 1946 Frank Capra movie, It’s a Wonderful Life? George Bailey argued to no avail to an uncaring, empty soul who had all of the money in the world, but none of the riches that matter. George was right that the assets his father had were much greater than any material possessions. And despite his desires, he unwittingly followed his father’s path by serving his community and fellow citizens to the detriment of his childhood dreams.
That story is still alive. I see it in the faces, voices and actions of America’s rural telephone companies. Over the last few days, I literally was reminded that there are companies that still realize that there is something bigger than monetary profits. I see it in company owners who sometimes reluctantly carried the torch from their parents 30 or more years ago and now are passing it down to their children. And these children are college educated, some with advanced degrees, and they could easily make much more money in the short-term by leaving their communities and heading for the rush and excitement of urban America.
This story was repeated over and over at the OPASTCO conference. In fact, the session hosted by Alan Campbell of the Legasus Group, focused on the challenges of succession planning. Planning has become much more sophisticated than poor George Bailey, who literally had his father’s savings and loan dumped on him when his father unexpectedly died. Campbell pointed out that successful succession planning should start years and years before the actual change in leadership. And it quite a challenge, as estate taxes can literally force a sale, uprooting a telco from its community roots – hence, the importance of planning early for transition.His panel featured telcos who have successfully weaved through the maze of legal, financial and emotional issues surrounding such a complicated issue. In other settings, these are the type of issues that could spark a Jerry Springer-like panel, but the panelists calmly and, sometimes, humorously addressed these challenges. Two of the telcos described the transition of management from one generation to the other, while another telco described how, even though ownership remained in the family, they made the transition to a non-family member, general manager.
The common theme from each of the speakers was the importance of improving their communities. It was the desire to improve their community that was the original impetus for bringing telephone lines to places that were being ignored. The easy transition plan would be for the independents to sell their companies, pocket the money and move to Florida. But these individuals realize that the best way to help their communities is by staying put and reinvesting in the community. Reinforcing comments I have heard in the past, these panelists described decisions they made that put the community’s interest ahead of their economic interest.
On a related note of independent telcos and rural communities, I was saddened to hear that one of the pioneers in California independent telephony passed away late last year. Ralph Hoeper of Foresthill Telephone was the prototypical telephone man and he embodied the importance of community. He bought Foresthill Telephone when it had a handful of lines in the ‘40s. He and his wife, Rose, led it and the Foresthill community into the digital age. I always enjoyed his no nonsense demeanor and the way he would literally get in and dig the trenches when installing new DLC equipment. A submariner in World War II, he bravely served his country and made many positive contributions to his rural community. Thanks Ralph!
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