Winter Convention Speaker Biographies

Robert Bengel
NISC

  • Robert Bengel joined Quintrex Data Systems Corp. in 2009.  With 25 years of experience on both the service-provider side and working with billing, mapping and workforce management software, Robert has a diverse background in the telecommunications industry.  Robert is also well-known throughout the industry as a professional entertainer and magicianm having performed at various industry events.  He also enjoys fly-fishing and playing golf.

Brian Benison
AT&T Services, Inc.

  • Brian Benison is director of federal regulatory for AT&T with responsibility for intercarrier compensation and interconnection issues. Before joining AT&T he worked in the FCC's Enforcement Bureau.

David Bonnett
NISC

  • David Bonnett is currently vice president, product management and sales with the National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) for both the utility and telecom divisions.  David brings 20 years of experience in the utility, telecom and software industries working closely with cooperatives, municipals and investor-owned utilities.  He formerly held vice president and director positions with Aclara™ and Siebel, where he had product management and marketing responsibilities.  David has been an industry leader in the evolution of smart metering, meter data management and demand management programs.  With NISC, he has been especially focused in the development of cloud-based solutions to mid-sized utilities and telecom providers.

Ray Cantrell
Telecom Management Services

  • Ray has 19 years of professional experience in communications.  In his current role as chief technology officer for Telecom Management Services, Ray oversees all areas of the network, Internet, video, outside plant and business systems.  Prior to joining TMS, Ray served as the network operations manager for Ben Lomand Telephone.  He specializes in IP network design for residential triple play, carrier networks, FTTH, xDSL, IPTV, MPLS, hosted IP and optical networking.  Ray's focus is to consistently deliver results by aligning technology initiatives with business goals by means of significant improvement to service delivery, standardization and network performance.

Ed Cushing
KPU Telecom

  • Ed Cushing is division manager, sales and marketing, for KPU Telecom in Ketchikan, Alaska.  Ed's 30-year telecom career includes responsibility for ILEC, IPTV and ISP operations, sales and regulatory affairs in serveral western states, in both highly competitive urban and rural communities.  Ed's background includes senior management roles with Pacific Telecom, Alascom, CenturyTel, Alaska Network Systems and, most recently, FairPoint Communications, for which he served as FairPoint's western region president.

Bob DeBroux
TDS

  • Bob DeBroux is director of federal affairs and public policy for TDS.  He joined TDS in 1992 as manager of regulatory policy.  He became manager of public policy in 1995, a position created to focus on public policy review and development.  He was promoted to director of federal affairs in 1999, and he currently is responsible for overseeing the development of TDS' public policy, as well as management of all federal advocacy, including regulatory and judicial proceedings.  Bob is active in telecommunications policy development and advocacy at both the state and federal level.  He currently is a director on the board of the Western Telecommunications Alliance (WTA), and he is active on its regulatory, legislative and business development committees.

Laura Dodson
NTIA

  • Laura Dodson is currently the director for the BTOP infrastructure projects at NTIA. She has more than 12 years of experience building and managing teams in dynamic organizations. Her diverse experience includes telecommunications sales and business development at Level 3 Level Communications as well as public policy with the Internet Innovation Alliance and US Telecom Association.

Chuck Flournoy
Mapcom Systems, Inc.

  • Chuck Flournoy leads operations and develops Mapcom’s strategic relationships with partners and customers. He has been integrally involved in the company's growth and success. He is a noted telecommunications industry author and speaker, and appears regularly in national trade publications and on the docket of state, regional and national events. Prior to joining Mapcom, Chuck served as a Principal and COO of LuxVue, Inc., an integrated broadband services venture, and as Director of New Product Development for Charter Communications. Chuck began his career in cable with Rifkin & Associates, where he directed the MSO’s Virginia operations and later served as Corporate Director of New Business Operations. He has been a recipient of the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association’s Meritorious Service Award for his pioneering contributions to the cable industry. Chuck currently serves as Chairman of the NTCA Expo Advisory Committee. He is a member of the OPASTCO Technical Committee and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. Chuck earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Stetson University and holds a Masters in Liberal Studies from Duke University.

David George
Ironton Telephone Company

  • David George is the general manager of Ironton Telephone Company, to which he brings more than 23 years of sales and management experience, 12 years of which being in the the telecom industry.  Dave's focus is on emerging technologies and new sales arenas for Ironton Telephone Company.  Dave continues to evolve Ironton's various partnerships with ILECs, MSOs and an ISP, and he has spearheaded Ironton's equity partnership with Vintalk, a global VoIP/SIP and international LD provider based in San Diego, Calif.  He is also an active member of the Pennsylvania Telephone Association, and he is a sales forum contributor for various telecom organizations.

    Dave is also the CEO and co-founder of GreenStar Solutions, an electric and natural gas consulting company.  He also enjoys teaching martial arts at his training facility.  Dave resides in Northampton, Pa., with his wife and two children.

Bob Gnapp
NECA

  • Bob Gnapp is the NECA's director of demand assurance and network analysis for industry relations.  Bob began his telecommunication career in 1989 when he joined NECA’s Rate Development department at its New Jersey headquarters. In 1992, Bob transferred to NECA’s Western Region office in Colorado, where he held several management positions with varied areas of responsibility including: settlements coordination, cost study and USF analysis, CABS auditing, tariff interpretation and member company training. In 2007, Bob accepted the position of Director – Demand Assurance and Network Analysis. In this position, Bob heads a department that is responsible for the identification and resolution of issues related to changing demand, the analysis of evolving networks and technology and the advancement of rural broadband availability and adoption.

John Granger
Mapcom Systems, Inc.

  • John Granger is the president and CEO of Mapcom Systems, Inc.  He has more than 30 years of experience in leading and developing teams to meet clients' needs and visions.  He leads Mapcom's mission to provide a business solution that has measurable enterprise-wide benefits, is easy to learn and use, flexibly implemented and extremely cost-effective.

    John's professional experience includes successfully building a number of businesses in the technology industry.  He has worked in executive management, sales, marketing and operations.  John spent 15 years as a team builder with Automatic Data Processing, Computer Associates International and Tredegar Corp., where his teams consistently were ranked #1 in sales and customer satisfaction.  John currently serves on the OPASTCO Education Committee, is chair of the OPASTCO Associate Member Committee, and serves on the board of directors of FRED.  He also recently served on the board of directors of OPASTCO.  Also active in NTCA, John formerly served as chairman of the NTCA Expo Advisory Committee and chair of the NTCA Associate Member Advisory Council.  He is the recipient of the 2010 NTCA Associate Member Distinguished Achievement Award and the 2011 OPASTCO Associate Member Distinguished Service Award.

    John has been involved with multiple state associations, and he has been a frequent speaker at NTCA and OPASTCO conferences, as well as many state and regional telephone association events.  Originally from the Hershey, Pa., area, John is a certified public accountant and holds a B.S. from Susquehanna University, as well as an M.B.A. from Penn State University.  He and his wife, Donna, have three children and have served numerous times as P.T.A. co-presidents and co-presidents of the Choral Boosters.

Tim Hausman
Ironton Telephone Company

  • Tim Hausman is the director of network operations for Ironton Telephone Company, a rural ILEC in Pennsylvania.  He has 29 years of telecommunications experience.  He is the current chairman of the Pennsylvania Telephone Association Engineering Committee, as well as a member of the OPASTCO Technical Committee.  In these roles he has helped steer Ironton's growth through technology and leadership.  Other responsibilities include legal, regulatory, contracts administration, strategic planning, business opportunities, project management, security and technical advisement for CLEC and ISP operations.  Tim also is vice president of a bowling league, and has coached baseball for more than 20 years.

George Henny
Whidbey Telecom

  • George Henny is co-CEO of Whidbey Telecom and FiberCloud, Inc., and is a 25-year veteran in the telecom and technology fields.  George initiated Whidbey Telecom's successful Internet and broadband business in 1994 and developed the company's cloud-computing data center subsidiary FiberCloud.  These two businesses provide the platform for expanded national and international markets.  He continues to provide the vision and strategy for business and technology initiatives within the enterprise, bringing a combination of vision, ingenuity, broad technological understanding and business acumen to ventures with which he is involved.  George holds B.A. in drama and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington, and he serves on numerous community boards and is a featured performer in local theatrical and film productions.

Dr. James H. Johnson, Jr.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • James H. Johnson, Jr. is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He holds degrees from North Carolina Central University (B.S., 1975), the University of Wisconsin at Madison (MS, 1977), and Michigan State University (PhD, 1980).

    Selected by Fast Company magazine (September 2000) as one of the "17 … brightest thinkers and doers in the new world of work," Jim’s current research and consulting activities focus on the workforce and workplace implications of post-1990 demographic changes in the U.S; and on how to create highly competitive and sustainable business enterprises and communities in the current era of economic uncertainty and global insecurity.  His research on these and related topics has been widely cited in a number of national media outlets, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Detroit Free Press, Newsweek, Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, and Business Week.  He has also appeared on a number of national television shows, including The Today Show on NBC, CNN Headline News, the CBS Evening News, ABC Nightly News, Sunday Morning on CBS, Inside Politics on CNN, and This Week in Review on NBC.

    Prior to joining the UNC-CH faculty, Jim was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he spent the first twelve years of his professional career.

David Lewis
ANPI Zone

  • Dave serves as the CEO of ANPI, LLC and Zone Telecom, LLC.  He has more than 20 years' experience in the telecommunications industry, beginning with the Illinois Commerce Commission where he coordinated the commission's examination of numerous telecommunications policy matters.  Dave also served in the Office of Chairman and Commissioners, where he provided analysis and counsel on telecommunications matters to the commissioners of the ICC.  Dave joined GVNW Consulting in 1991, where he provided a variety of services from regulatory policy formation to strategic and business planning services to the rural LEC community for more than a decade.  During his tenure with GVNW he held several positions, including consulting manager, vice president and partner.  As the conceptual founder of ANPI, LLC, Dave developed the business case behind the company and personally directed all aspects of ANPI's inception and growth.  He directed the formulation of the company's service sets, back office support systems and organizational structure, as well as its supplier and member relationships and contracts.  Dave holds bachelor's degrees in political science and economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Paul Ludwick
Nebraskalink, LLC

  • Paul is the CEO of Nebraskalink, LLC, a Nebraska middle-mile broadband provider that is owned by a consortium of seven Nebraska ILEC companies.  The company supplies broadband transport and direct Internet access to government, education, health care, telecom and enterprise customers.  Prior to Nebraskalink, Paul was with Sprint Corporation for 18 years in various technical, product, marketing and leadership positions, where he was awarded five U.S. patents in diverse technologies.  Paul worked with Rockwell Switching and Transmission Systems divisions for 10 years in technical and management roles before moving to Sprint.  A graduate of Park University with a B.S. in computer information systems and the University of Kansas with an M.B.A., Paul has been active in community service, most recently serving six years on the Olathe, Kan., Board of Housing Commissioners, with four years as chairman.  Paul resides in Lincoln, Neb., with his wife, Becky, and daughter, Brynn, and has two sons, Preston and Parker.

David McCartney
Peninsula Fiber Network

  • David McCartney is a lifelong resident of Michigan and has been involved with the telecommunications industry for over 40 years. After attending Michigan Technological University majoring in Mathematics, he begin working full time for McCartney & Co, a CPA / consulting firm specializing in assisting small telecommunication companies. In 1979, David graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Master of Business Administration. Shortly after graduation, he took his first and only job outside of telecommunication industry working for Dow Corning in their Treasurer’s Department. In 1983, he returned to McCartney & Co, just in time for the implementation of Divestiture and the start of access. In 1984, David sat for the CPA exam and passed. As a member of McCartney & Co, he had a significant impact on the creation and ongoing operations of the Michigan Exchange Carriers Association. Additionally, he has testified before the Michigan Public Service Commission on numerous issues from setting the depreciation rate on one of the first digital switches installed in Michigan to what is the Total Service Long Run Incremental Cost of operating a combined CLEC / ILEC organization in a combined rural / urban environment. As the manager of the Marquette office of McCartney & Company, David introduced Baraga Telephone Company (“BTC”) and Hiawatha Communication Inc. (“HCI”) in 2004 to the concept of creating a network company. They agreed and created Peninsula Fiber Network, LLC (“PFN”). As a consultant to the PFN management team, David coordinated the tying together of BTC’s and HCI’s existing network in 2006, access to interexchange carriers not through an RBOC and high-speed access to the Internet. PFN accomplish this with no employees. In 2010, David became the first employee of PFN and its General Manager. Since then, he has been responsible for all components of operation. David has been married to Jeanne Sironen-McCartney for 33 years. They have one daughter Greta and son-in-law Kevin. David is an Eagle Scout and actively involved in Wesley United Methodist Church.

Steve Meltzer
JSI

  • Steve Meltzer is a senior vice president at JSI, where he has been employed since 1977.  Steve plays an active role in the development, coordination and presentation of various JSI seminars.  In addition, Steve is active in several rural telecom organizations, including serving on the board of OPASTCO's Foundation for Rural Education and Development (FRED), where he serves as treasurer, and participating on the NECA cost-issues task group and rate development task force.  He also is involved with OPASTCO's regulatory policy and education committees.

Derrick Nielsen
Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, LC

  • Derrick Nielsen specializes in helping a wide variety of organizations with strategic and operational planning efforts, ownership and management successions, and establishing effective governance systems.  Using his formal mediation training and conflict management background, he helps groups improve teamwork, address underlying interests, and achieve group goals.  He works with organizations from a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, manufacturing, construction, banking, non-profits and the service sectors.

    Derrick is a summa cum laude graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., with an honors degree in government.  He pursued his graduate studies at Oxford University in England.  Prior to advising organizations, he served on Bishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, tutored American politics at Oxford University, and worked in the Washington office of former U.S. Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.).  He also spent a year as a volunteer teacher in an rural South African high school.

Penn Pfautz
AT&T

  • Penn Pfautz has been a director of product development and global access management for AT&T since 2005.  Penn joined Bell Laboratories in 1980 and has worked for various successor companies ever since.  A contributor to the IETF, ITU Study Group 2, GMSA, 3GPP and ATIS, Penn was a member of the team that developed the U.S. number portability solution and was heavily involved in both the technical and regulatory aspects of AT&T's implementation of number portability and number pooling.  His current focus is on defining and implementing IP interconnection for AT&T's voice networks from both a business and technical perspective.

Russ Ramsey
Toledo Telephone

  •  Russell Ramsey is the Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of The Toledo Telephone Co., Inc., located in Toledo, Washington. Russ and his family are the sole owners of Toledo Telephone, which has been family owned since 1937. In 1993, Russ graduated from the University of Washington, with a Bachelors of Science in Physics and a Minor in Fine Art. Shortly after, he returned to Toledo to work for the family business, where, in 1996, he launched Toledo Telenet, Toledo Telephone's ISP Service. In 2000, Russ received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Oregon, after completing a part-time program, in Portland, Oregon. Currently, Russ is a member of NECA's Rate Development Task Force, and OPASTCO's Technical Committee and Business Development Committee. He's also active in educational concerns by serving on the Toledo School District's Technical Committee and volunteering for the Washington State Science Olympiad, F.I.R.S.T, and the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry.

Mary Retka
CenturyLink

  • Mary Retka is the network policy director for CenturyLink, in its public policy organization.  In her 37 years in the telecommunications industry, she has worked for Northwestern Bell, U.S. West, AT&T, Qwest, and now CenturyLink in the business office, training, marketing, systems planning and engineering, project management of the embedded base transfer at divestiture, pricing, global information movement and management, the DSL lab, and for the past 25 years in network focusing on technical regulatory work.  She is a graduate of South Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Tory Richtmeyer
Mid-State Consultants

  • Tory Richtmeyer has 12 years of experience of working in the telecommunications industry, the last three of which as Mid-State Consultants' national marketing and sales director.  Tory earned marketing and management degrees from the University of Montana, and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in global management from Ashford University.

Rob Riordan
Nsight

  • Rob Riordan is the executive vice president and director of corporate development for Cellcom.  He is a dynamic speaker and lively commentator on emerging technologies in the telecommunications world.  In his role at Cellcom, he looks six months to six years ahead of where the company is today.

    When Rob is not working on mergers, acquiring new markets and spectrum, or interfacing with investment bankers, he spends much time researching potential technologies and their role at Nsight.  Through his studies of mobile IP, for example, Nsight became the first company in the U.S. to provide the service.  Rob currently is a member of the Femto Forum, an international, not-for-profit membership organization founded in 2007 to promote worldwide femtocell deployment.

    This knowlege, combined with his 30 years of telecom experience, allows Rob to speak on a number of subjects, and he recently has been accepted as a member of the National Speakers Association, the leading organization for professional speakers.  As a Toastmaster, he has traveled the globe through speaking engagements during the last ten years.  As an active member of the community, he has served on the Meyer Theatre board of directors and currently is president of this non-profit organization.  He is also on the board for New North; a member of the marketing committee for the Green Bay chapter of the Wisconsin Family Business Forum; and has served as chairman of the board of directors of the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce.  Rob also is a past chairman of OPASTCO, and he has served on and chaired industry committees for USTA, WSTA, CTIA, RCA and WCA.

    Rob has four children and two grandchildren, and he lives in Green Bay with his wife, Cathy.  He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

John Rose
OPASTCO

  • John Rose is president of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO).  OPASTCO is a national trade association representing rural telecommunications companies’ interests before the FCC and Congress and providing educational programs and publications.  Its 470 LEC members collectively serve 3 million customers primarily in rural areas of the United States and Canada.  The association also has an affiliate nonprofit foundation, the Foundation for Rural Education and Development (FRED).

    John’s career in the telecommunications industry began 41 years ago, when he joined C&P Telephone Company in Virginia in 1969, working in accounting, auditing and separations and settlements. From 1977 to 1984, John worked for the Rural Electrification Administration, now known as Rural Utilities Service (RUS), serving first as chief of the Loans and Management Branch and later as director of the Telecommunications Management Division.

    Not only is John a “veteran” in the telecommunications industry, he is also a veteran of the armed forces.  Prior to embarking on a career in telecommunications, he served in the U.S. Navy and attained the rank of Lt. Commander.  John has a degree in Business Administration with majors in Finance and Economics and a minor in Mathematics from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Va.

Tony Stout
Palmetto Rural Telephone

  • Tony Stout joined Palmetto Rural Telephone in 2010 and serves as the company’s chief technology officer. In his role as CTO, Tony is responsible for overseeing strategic direction for designing and building PRTC’s next generation network infrastructure. Additionally, he manages the company’s daily engineering and operational duties. Tony has managed several key initiatives at PRTC including the company’s Microsoft Mediaroom deployment, upgrading PRTC’s network infrastructure and standardizing operational procedures. Tony has been instrumental in developing PRTC’s 5 year strategic plan for transforming the Cooperative’s legacy network into an all fiber, all IP next-gen network.  Tony has more than 17 years of technology and business experience in various telecom and information technology roles.  Tony has managed numerous commericial deployments of next-gen technologies, including several IPTV deployments, commercial web application development, carrier access, metro and core network deployments.  Tony specializes in building technical teams and managing complex technology projects.  Prior to joining PRTC, Tony served as Hargray Communications' Network Engineering manager, responsible for network design and technology planning for Hargray's carrier network infrastructure.  Tony earned a bachelor's degree in communications from East Tennessee State University.  He is married and has two children.

Ron Strecker
Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc.

  • Ron Strecker is the CEO of Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (PTCI) and Panhandle Telecommunication Systems, Inc. (PTSI).  He has more than 40 years of experience in the telecommunications industry.  Currently, he oversees and directs all affairs of PTCI, which has in excess of 12,750 access lines in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.  In addition, he oversees and directs all affairs of PTSI, which includes cellular, PCS, broadband, video, business systems and CLEC operations.

    Ron has served as PTCI's CEO since 1995, and he has been with the company since 1975.  Prior to joining PTCI, Ron worked for an engineering firm from 1970 to 1975.  He has served or is presently serving on numerous state and national telephone industry boards and committees, including those of the Rural Cellular Association, the Rural Independent Competitive Alliance, the Communications Supply Services Association, the Oklahoma Telephone Association, OPASTCO and NTCA.  Ron also serves on the board of the Panhandle Regional Economic Development Coalition, Inc., which promotes economic development within the Oklahoma Panhandle Region.

Larry Thompson
Vantage Point Solutions

  • Larry is a registered professional engineer and CEO of Vantage Point Solutions. He holds a Bachelors degree in Physics from William Jewell College and a Masters degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Kansas. Larry has been working in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years. He is focused on helping the Rural Telecommunication companies be successful in this rapidly changing technical and regulatory environment. He has assisted many companies in their transition from legacy networks to broadband IP networks. Larry is familiar with the challenges of deploying both wireless and wireline technologies to meet rural customer’s broadband needs. Larry is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences as well as FCC and US Senate events. He lives in Mitchell, South Dakota with his wife and two daughters.

Sandy Vandevender
Five Area Telephone Cooperative, Inc.

  • Sandy Vandevender is CEO of Five Area Telephone Cooperative, Inc. and West Plains Telecommunications, Inc. in Muleshoe, Texas, and NTCA's president for 2011.

    Sandy has been in the telecommunications industry for 30 years, serving in various capacities.  He took the helm of Five Area Telephone in 2000, and he has served as a Region 10 director of the NTCA board of directors for six years.  Sandy also serves on the board of directors of the Texas Telephone Association, and he is a past president of the Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative, Inc.  He also is a member of the Muleshoe Rotary Club and serves as vice president of the Muleshoe Area Educational Foundation.

    Born and raised on a farm and ranch in Portales, N.M., Sandy received a degree in the computer field with an emphasis on finance from Eastern New Mexico University and a graduate degree in economic development from Western New Mexico University.  He has been married to his wife, Kathy, for 40 years and has two children and four grandchildren.  In his free time, Sandy enjoys hunting, fishing and motorcycles and is a licensed pilot.

Douglas Wenzlaff
Solarus

  • Douglas J. Wenzlaff is the CEO and General Manager of Solarus. He has been employed by Solarus since 1983, spending time in the Accounting, Central Office, and Plant Departments before becoming CEO. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater with a degree in Business Administration Degree, and also has a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. Doug is a past President of the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association and the Wisconsin Locally Owned Telephone Association. He serves on the board of Access Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Foundation, and is President of Badger Commuincations and Wisconsin RSA #7. Wenzlaff has also served on the board of Communications Management Group. Wenzlaff is active locally in the Wisconsin Rapids Rotary club, and serves as President of Riverview Hospital, a local community hospital.