Just a little over a week since our Customer Appreciation event. (Which was a hit by the way!)
I’ve had some time to reflect on what it all means, and this is what I came up with.
First, thank you to everyone who came out. Second, thank you to everyone who reached out after my last blog post. To see so many people share the same passion we have here in the office is overwhelming, in the best way.
Doing business with Santel isn’t like calling some 1-800 number and waiting on hold while a stranger three states away pulls up your account. When you call us, you’re talking to real people. People who live right here. People you probably already know.
Most of our employees have lived in this cooperative territory their entire lives. A few tried the bright lights of the big city, but like Dorothy, they realized there’s no place like home. They came back because this is where family, neighbors, and community still mean something. A select few have even found their way from the big city to the small town life. I mean, where better to raise a family?
It’s not just where we work. It’s who we are.
- Several of our Outside Plant Techs also serve on the volunteer fire departments in their territory.
- My boss, Randy Northrup, gives his time to the BFLF program.
- Our CEO Ryan Thompson serves on a multitude of boards including the board for the regions largest hospital.
- Just this Monday, two of our newest Customer Service Reps, Bridget and Miranda, jumped at the chance to donate blood at the local drive.
- Our sister company Tech Solutions hosts a technology camp course in the summer for young Mitchell kids who are passionate about IT and Computer Science.
- One of our social committee chairs and senior CSR Leah is heavily involved in the local high school athletics programs, in support of her son, and his teams.
- Not a week has went by since I started where our Handyman and Grounds Keeper Norm hasn’t brought in a treat for us to enjoy in the breakroom.
And me? Well, I’m a “new hire” too. However, if you trace it back, my family’s been tied to this co-op since its very beginning. I’ve spent nearly all of my 34 years in the Mount Vernon exchange, and for the last decade I’ve served as a city leader, first as a councilman, and the last seven years as Mayor.
I hope this dosen’t sound like bragging, the point I am trying to convey is “it doesn’t get more local than this.”
We live here. We work here. We raise families here. We volunteer here. We’re buried here when it’s all said and done.
We are heavily invested not only in the future of our company, and employees, but in the well being and long term prosperity of the communities we serve as well.
And here’s one more thing to add, you don’t punch in and out when your job is serving your neighbors. When someone has a question at the Fireman’s Pork Feed, it gets answered right there between bites. When you run into us at the gas station or Friday night’s ball game, you’ll get the same service you would if you called the office. We don’t do that because it’s “part of the job.” We do it because we’re proud to work, live, and serve in these communities.
That’s the difference. When you do business with Santel, you’re not just signing up for internet service. You’re putting your trust in people you already trust. Folks you sit by at school events, stand behind at the grocery store, or give the midwest 2 finger wave from the wheel as you pass on the highway.
We are real people.
And we’re proud to serve our neighbors.
– W.M. Frank