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Celebrating a Major Milestone

December 10, 2025

Map of Twin Valley’s coverage area in December 2005, celebrating a major milestone by showing original service territories in blue and newly expanded areas in orange, including added exchanges such as Aurora, Glasco, Delphos, Clyde, Leonardville, Riley, Wakefield, Milford, Olsburg, and surrounding communities.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of a major company milestone – the acquisition of 13 exchanges (service areas) from Sprint, which led to the hiring of new employees to support Twin Valley’s growth and infrastructure investments.

Before the acquisition, Twin Valley served about 2,000 customers across an 850 square mile area. Bringing these 13 communities into the Twin Valley network expanded the service footprint to 6,600 customers over 2,400 square miles with 7,400 access lines. At the time, these newly acquired exchanges were operating on copper technology with internet speeds of up to 384 kbps, and Twin Valley invested in rebuilding that infrastructure with fiber to the home and gigabit service. To put that into perspective, 384 kbps equals 0.384 Mbps, while 1 Gbps equals 1,000 Mbps. It was a life-changing upgrade that positioned these communities for success as broadband became an essential service. Twin Valley continues to invest in cutting-edge technology, with the state’s most robust network and up to 8 Gbps symmetrical speeds.

New Service Areas in 2005
  • Aurora
  • Clifton
  • Clyde
  • Delphos
  • Glasco
  • Green
  • Leonardville
  • Longford
  • Milford
  • Morganville
  • Olsburg
  • Riley
  • Wakefield

From 2005 to today, telecommunications and broadband have transformed rapidly, and these employees were at the center of that evolution. They helped guide the company through major technological advancements, significant growth and the rising need to support customers as internet became essential for residents and businesses across Kansas. Their work through these pivotal years reflects the family-oriented culture that has propelled Twin Valley for more than 80 years, rooted in caring for our neighbors, building strong connections and advancing technology for rural communities to help bridge the digital divide.

To mark this milestone, we are highlighting the employees who joined Twin Valley during this pivotal time. Their roles, experiences and contributions offer a meaningful look at the people behind our network and the impact they make in the communities we serve.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Eric Tabor.

    Eric Tabor | VP of Marketing & Sales

    With more than 30 years of leadership in telecommunications, broadband, and technology management, Eric helps guide Twin Valley’s growth strategy with a focus on customer experience, revenue performance, and long-term innovation. Before joining Twin Valley, he led Midwest operations and sales at Southwestern Bell/AT&T.

    As Twin Valley’s first non-family leadership hire, Eric has played a key role in scaling the organization over the past two decades. He helped lead the acquisition and integration of the former Sprint exchanges and supported major milestones including the acquisitions of ISG Technology (2011) and Southern Kansas Telephone Company (SKT) (2021).

    Following the ISG acquisition, he helped support ISG’s transformation into a leading managed services provider in the Midwest. Today, Eric oversees revenue management, customer experience, and strategic growth initiatives, applying emerging technologies, including AI, to expand opportunity for rural Kansas communities now and for generations to come.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Traci Thompson.

    Traci Thompson | Director of Operations

    Traci has always been drawn to work involving coordination and problem solving, skills that have supported her success over a three-decade career in telecommunications and broadband operations. Before joining Twin Valley, she worked at a large company starting in a call center supporting large businesses and later transitioning to working with long distance carriers where she gained knowledge in industry processes and systems. Moving to a position at headquarters presented her with opportunities to lead teams on process development and documentation, system development and documentation, and working across business segments to streamline processes and systems at the parent company level.

    That experience laid the foundation for her continued growth and success at Twin Valley, where she has built a comprehensive understanding of telecommunications and broadband operations from both rural and industry-wide perspectives. As an operations leader of the state’s largest independently owned broadband company, she works cross-functionally to support the business, with a core focus in billing, carrier relations, and regulatory compliance. By leveraging state and national grant programs, her work has also brought cutting-edge broadband connectivity to underserved rural communities.

    Traci enjoys the diverse range of responsibilities in her role that bring fresh opportunities daily. Her advice to those entering the broadband industry is simple: stay open to change and be willing to grow. Technology moves quickly, and with it comes new opportunities to make a difference.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Darren Bates.

    Darren Bates | Network Technician

    After years in large corporate telecom, Darren was looking for a place that felt more personal. He found it at Twin Valley, drawn to the family-owned culture and the sense of community behind the work. He originally expected to work as a service technician, but his past experience quickly proved valuable. Following the acquisition of the Sprint exchanges, Darren played an important role in connecting new customers and providing network support.

    One of his most memorable experiences was the 2007 ice storm. When critical equipment failed, larger providers struggled to address the vast outages while Twin Valley employees were able to act quickly. Part of the team arranged a private flight to North Dakota to bring back replacement parts. Others on the team drove to Nebraska and returned with more than 60 generators, gas cans and cords. Crews refueled them every few hours for days. Darren still points to this moment as the clearest example of what sets Twin Valley apart. When neighbors need help, you go.

    Today, Darren supports network operations across multiple platforms and technologies and values the problem solving that comes with serving many rural Kansas communities.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Caleb Bloom.

    Caleb Bloom | Service Technician

    Caleb sought a career as a technician after seeing how quickly internet use was growing and recognizing that it would shape everyday life. He noticed that Twin Valley was leading the way with new technology and wanted to be part of that progress. He began as a service technician and continues in that role today, installing internet, troubleshooting service issues, and helping to maintain the network.

    Some of Caleb’s favorite memories are the lighthearted moments shared with his coworkers. For Caleb, it is moments like these that make the job memorable, from the camaraderie to the genuine friendships built along the way.

    Across multiple communities, many people have come to rely on Caleb as a trusted, knowledgeable friend who is always willing to help. Caleb doesn’t even mind the after-hours calls. Supporting neighbors, fixing problems and keeping people connected is simply part of who he is.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Jenna Taylor.

    Jeana Taylor | Operations Analyst

    Jeana began her career by providing customer support for billing, service inquiries and account management. In those early days, she even tracked dial-up internet usage by the minute, a reminder of how much internet connection has changed over the years. Looking back, she feels proud of how far Twin Valley has come and how the customer experience has evolved.

    One of her favorite memories is from her daily visits with the late Grandpa Jack, one of Twin Valley’s owners. He often stopped by the office to pick up mail and chat with the staff. He asked about their families, shared stories and made everyone feel at home. When Jeana first met him, he told her that everyone called him Grandpa Jack, so she should too. His warmth left a lasting impression and helped shape the values that define Twin Valley.

    Today, Jeana manages contracts for Twin Valley’s Hosted Voice business telephone service and oversees circuit connectivity from order receipt through billing, which provides dedicated connections to businesses, community anchor institutions, and cellular towers. As the Twin Valley program administrator for the E-rate and Rural Healthcare government broadband funding programs, she plays a key role in supporting schools, libraries and healthcare facilities in our communities.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Karen Tremblay.

    Karen Tremblay | Customer Service Representative

    When Karen joined Twin Valley, she found herself part of a close-knit customer service team learning new systems and helping customers through the period of major growth. She remembers stretches when the phone never stopped ringing and everyone worked together to keep things moving.

    A defining memory from those early years came while Twin Valley was still relatively small and operating out of the Miltonvale office. With high call volumes driven by the recent acquisition, the team showed resilience and dedication, often working into the evening to support customers. The late Mike Foster, an owner of the company and affectionately known as Big Mike, was right there with them through it all. He led by example, arriving early, checking in throughout the day, and staying until the work was done. His steady presence and leadership left a lasting impression on Karen and the team.

    Today, Karen continues to support customers with account changes, service needs and troubleshooting. She appreciates that Twin Valley still answers the phone with a real person, a tradition she believes customers value as much as she does.

  • Twin Valley employee spotlight headshot of Sheila Wendelken.

    Sheila Wendelken | Technical Support Representative

    Sheila began her telecommunications career in Kansas City before joining Twin Valley’s customer service team. She remembers the energetic pace of the role, with high call volumes and plenty to keep the team busy. Sheila later moved into technical support where she now helps technicians and customers set up new connections and troubleshoot issues.

    Sheila recalls when offering 10 Mbps felt like a big step forward. Today, she supports multi-gig fiber networks that power everything from video calls to schoolwork and streaming. The change has been dramatic, but the moments she remembers most are the fiber cutover projects that improved connectivity for entire communities. Many of these transitions happened overnight to avoid interruptions and required close coordination and quick thinking. Some days were stressful, others full of laughter, but all were rewarding because they brought better service to our neighbors.

    For Sheila, the best part of her work is helping people navigate challenges and seeing the impact improved service has on our customers’ daily lives.

Two Decades of Growth, Guided by People

Twenty years ago, Twin Valley served about 2,000 customers across 850 square miles. The 2005 expansion brought 13 new communities into the Twin Valley family, tripling our service area and sparking one of the largest rural fiber upgrades in the region. What began as 384 kbps over copper lines became fiber to every home, completed years ahead of national fiber rollouts and long before gigabit service became the industry standard.

Today, Twin Valley serves around 15,000 customers across 5,000 square miles with the most advanced fiber network in Kansas and symmetrical speeds up to 8 Gbps. This progress was not accidental. It was built through years of dedication from leaders and employees who believed in what rural connectivity could become.

Eric, Darren, Jeana, Karen, Sheila, Caleb and Traci, thank you for more than 20 years of remarkable service. You have strengthened communities, supported generations of customers and shaped the culture that continues to guide Twin Valley. Your work lives in every mile of fiber, every customer connection and every community made stronger because of it.

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