CEO Message - May/June 2021
Spring is almost over, and we are fast approaching summer. What a crazy year it has been, it is hard to believe that last March we just started hearing about COVID. I think we are all tired of talking and hearing about it. Hopefully with the vaccines we can get back to some semblance of normal soon.
You will see our second capital credit article on the next page; please review it to have a better understanding of our capital credits and how many options there are to the cooperative on how they can be retired (paid) out. Triangle will also have a video soon on our website that does a good job of also talking about capital credits. I will let you know when it is posted.
Triangle is getting ready to start construction on our 2021 fiber upgrades. This year we have hired VECI and JKL for our Fiber to the Home construction. JKL will be plowing fiber in the South Malta exchange area north of Malta and Molt in the southern area of our exchanges. VECI will finish up plowing fiber in the Stanford exchange and will also be plowing fiber in the Denton exchange. In addition to those four exchanges, we will also upgrade another portion of the Big Timber exchange.
I invite you to look at our Fiber to the Home map on our website. It shows exchanges already upgraded to fiber, the areas being constructed in 2021 and what we have planned for in the future.
We are excited to be bringing fiber to our service area and the new and exciting opportunities fiber can provide. These projects take a lot of planning and it really is a team effort with our Engineering team, Construction teams, our leadership team and good solid direction given by the Board working together to provide exceptional service to our members.
The cooperative and the union have reached agreement on a new contract. I want to thank all the union employees who gave their input, and we have a good contract supported by the IBEW union, the membership of the union and the cooperative.
Last but definitely not least; I would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees for their hard work during these uncertain times. The cooperative will have employees return to the office on May 10th and we will continue to monitor the issue as we move forward. The office will not open to our members until sometime later, please look to Facebook and our website or the next newsletter for any updates.
