Dossier: Derek Barr, Hardy Telecommunications

Territory served: Three exchanges in eastern West Virginia

Year founded: 1953

Employees: 32

Customers: A little less than 5000

Population density: Least-dense areas have about two customers per square mile.

About the community: Poultry farming region that also has a manufacturing base. Only two hours from Washington, D.C., “we have a lot of people who like to retire here.” The population is growing, although rate of growth has recently slowed.

Recent personal accomplishment: Won the Key Employee Award from the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association

Employee since: Early 2005. “I was hired here to do marketing, but the job was expanded to include human resource duties as well. My education is in journalism, and I was a news reporter for seven and a half years, but my previous job was human resources director for a local manufacturer.”

Key initiatives: Creates an award-winning quarterly customer newsletter and an employee newsletter. “Stories range from new products and personnel changes and industry updates to charitable events and youth opportunities.”

Created a program to use nine local high school students to “show them what we do as a telephone company and as a cooperative, and they share their experiences about what they're using telecom for, how they're using cellular and the Internet, and what they're seeing on the Internet to help us determine what services we need to have in place to satisfy future requirements.”

Created company's first-ever employee handbook.

Broadband technology used: DSL

Broadband penetration rate: About 33%

Broadband availability: 99% of ILEC area

Key technology initiative: Expanding DSL to remaining 100% of territory by year's end

CLEC business: Started about six years ago in neighboring communities where a Tier 2 telco is the incumbent. “Locally, everyone knows us, and that means a lot for the people around here.”

Community initiatives: “We do a lot in the community, particularly with the schools. Recently I was asked to help make sure a local school's desktop publishing standards were current. We try to be a resource.”

Biggest telecom challenge: “We don't have cellular service. West Virginia is nothing but mountains and valleys. It's a challenge to keep modern infrastructure up in a county that's so rural.”

Community's biggest challenge: The economy. “The latest plant was built five or six years ago and has modern robotics. The Rural Development Association was instrumental. We're updating promotional materials. We hadn't stressed telecom infrastructure much before, but that will be part of the newest materials.”

Universal Service Funding: Yes