From the Top with CEO Patrick Grace

A year ago at this time, everything revolved around the pandemic, and the decisions we made were based on how we could protect our employees and our members. A year later, we're still faced with these decisions — although not in the same light — as we transition into the heart of summer.

One decision we had to make a few months back was to postpone our Annual Meeting to 2022. We tried to avoid it, but at the time, state and local officials were still advising against large gatherings. Our board decided it would be best to wait one more year so we can all join together with hopefully no limitations.

One thing I am looking forward to relaunching is our safety meetings. Safety is our top priority, and while our linemen and service personnel have continued their safety training throughout the pandemic, it's more impactful when we can meet in person. At the end of every day, we want each of our lineworkers to go home to their families, and I'm happy to be able to reinforce those safety measures in person again.

As we adjusted to working remotely and ensuring social distance measures for all, we kept almost full operations and were able to serve members without experiencing a drop in service or reliability. Kudos to our employees who adapted to a historic time. We knew we had to answer the call, no matter the weather or world pandemic status — we’re here to take care of our members.

When we realized America was headed for remote learning and working from home, OEC Fiber kicked into high gear. We hit 1,000 new subscribers per month throughout the pandemic as the need for connectivity became amplified. We pushed forward knowing the service was vital to our members and connected over 10,000 members in 2020.

At the end of the day, we want you to know we always keep your needs at the forefront of our decision making. We truly do value you — our members and subscribers — and are grateful for the patience you extended to us as we navigated the pandemic and continue in a new norm with you.