10 I The Lovell Chronicle I August 19, 2010
www. LovellChronicle.com
Sen. Enzi visits M-I, TCT on county swing
BY KARLA POMEROY
AND NATHAN OSTER
U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi and
his wife Diana have been
touring Wyoming business-
es while Congress is out of
session and on Monday the
Enzis visited two Big Horn
County businesses: M-I
SWACO north of Greybull
and TCT in Basin.
TCT General Manager
Chris Davidson said prior
to Monday's afternoon tour
that he was contacted by
Enzi's office about the tour
and would be talking to Enzi
about some proposed federal
regulations that could hurt
the rural telephone compa-
ny. He said he was also ex-
cited about the opportunity
to show Enzi and members
of his staff - Press Secre-
tary Elly Picket and Chief of
Staff Flip McConnaughey,
the operation at TCT, add-
ing that "most people are
surprised with the technol-
ogy we have here."
Davidson gave Enzi a
brief description of the com-
pany with 120 employees,
about 50 in the Basin head-
quarters. He said 70 percent
of telephone subscribers also
subscribe to broadband. He
said the company offers 20
MB (once the new fiber optic
cable and operation comes
online) in Cody, down to 1
MB through fixed wireless
in remote areas.
One regulation proposal
Davidson told Enzi he was
concerned about is a propos-
al to put a 4 MB ceiling on
rural areas before telephone
companies could qualify for
the Universal Service Fund
money.
"This would effectively
shut offour funding," David-
son said, adding that while
TCT wants people in rural
Wyoming to have the same
connectivity as urban areas,
it's impractical in some ar-
eas of Wyoming.
Enzi said, "The biggest
problem is getting people to
understand how spread out
we are."
In outlining some of the
community service projects,
Davidson told Enzi about
TCT being a strategic part-
ner with Eleutian, who was
using the TCT conference
room Monday for a meet-
ing.
Eleutian President Kent
Holiday said, "Without TCT
we wouldn't be here. There
would be 600 people not em-
ployed at Eleutian. Without
the broadband (TCT pro-
vides) we couldn't do our
business."
Holiday said the com-
pany is struggling to ex-
pand in Casper because the
broadband provider is not
at the level that TCT has in
the Big Horn Basin.
"Businesses need infra-
structure, knowledge base
and capital. Other 'Eleu-
tians' will come once they
know the technology broad-
band is here," Holiday said.
He told Enzi that the key
is to get other communities
in Wyoming to duplicate
TCs model. He said some
of the candidates for super-
intendent of public instruc-
tion have discussed offering
more services to schools on-
line, but the problem is that
some areas of the state could
not offer those services with
the technology available.
"The state could learn a
lot from the TCT model," he
said.
Davidson told Enzi that
along with offering some
of the strongest technolo-
gy, providing phone, Inter-
net and TV services, they
also provide local channels
to broadcast meetings, lo-
cal ball games and school
events.
He also said, "Our em-
ployees are home grown."
Richard Wardell, network
manager, is a former math
teacher and Holiday noted
that Davidson is a former
John Deere salesman.
"A lot of training is done
in-house," Davidson said,
but added that TCT takes
advantage of the workforce
KARLA POMOY
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), left, visits with TCT WEST board chairman Cliff
Alexander Monday at the TCT offices in Basin. Sen. Enzi was in town Monday
to visit several Basin businesses.
grants to provide additional
training.
Earlier in the day at
M-I, the Enzis were given
a tour of the bentonite pro-
duction facility and received
an encouraging report from
Tim Fagley, the plant's gen-
eral manager.
Fagley said M-I is in the
process of rebounding from
what was a very difficult
year in 2009.
"We took a pretty good
licking last year," he said,
noting that the plant pro-
duced just 400 tons, a sig-
nificant drop from the pre-
vious year, 2008, which was
a record year for the plant.
He said the plant expects to
produce about 600 tons this
year, and up around 650
tons next year.
Fagley also noted that
the plant's "lost time in-
cident rate" dropped last
year.
One problem, he said, is
the labor force. "We're hiring
nonstop right now," he said,
noting that about a dozen
people were added while he
was away on a brief vaca-
tion. "We haven't been able
to find as many people as we
need."
He said M-I is "expand-
ing" and intends to roll out
two additional shifts in the
coming months.
Before going on a tour of
the plant, Fagley applauded
the senator for the votes he
has cast in support of the
state's minerals industry
during his term in the Sen-
ate.
75 YEARS AGO
AUGUST 15, 1935
The Level/Chronicle
Lovell's new concrete tennis
courts have been completed this
week on the school grounds, and it
is expected they will be ready for
public use next week, supt. G.V.
Cutler advised the Chronicle. The
courts were completed as a dona-
tion and school project, after be-
ing started as an ERA project last
spring. Not much was accomplished
on the courts when the change in
the federal set-up to the WPA left
the school without any federal re-
lief money to apply to their con-
struction because of new rulings.
A possibility that Lovell's
guard armory may be finished
with federal funds appeared last
week when Col. R.L. Esmay went
to Denver to confer with WPA of-
ficials on a proposed $350,000 ar-
mory construction program.
AUGUST 16, 1935
The Cowley Progress
Advertising copy on front page:
Why America Prefers Budweis-
er ,,, Companion of Good Health.
Pure, wliolesome food and drink:
are necessary to have and to keep
a healthy body. Because it is pure,
nourishing and rich in tonic quali-
ties, BUDWEISER has long been
the favorite beer of those who
guard their health. It is brewed
from the cream of each year's bar-
ley crop and from selected Ameri-
can and imported Bohemian hops.
BUDWEISER is sealed in sterilized
bottles and every bottle is pasteur-
ized. It is strength-building as well
as refreshing - a sensible and satis-
fying drink at any time. ANHEUS-
ER - BUSCH • ST. LOUIS. Wher-
ever you ask for it ... be sure you
get the genuine Budweiser, The
Health Drink. Cocoa-Cola Bottling
Company, Distributors, Thermopo-
and its approaches from Highway
310 at the east and west city limits,
is now being completed by a Pacific
Power and Light Company crew.
25 YEARS AGO
AUGUST 16, 1985
Work on the Foster Gulch Golf
Course is proceeding close to sched-
ule despite continued difficulty in
getting enough volunteer work-
ers to the site southwest of Lovell
lis, Wyoming. to help lay irrigation pipes. Fos-
........ *:' ....... ' ....... ' ter] Gulch Golf Club board mem-
'::" 50 YEARS AGO :::/::: : ber Earl Diekson said most of the
AUGUST 18, 1960 " work done thus far has come from
(Photo of Main Street light): a small number of people who have
A bright future is in store for the donated time and equipment in the
streets of Lovell. Installation of effort to get the irrigation pipes for
thirty-three 21,000-lumen mercury the proposed nine-hole course in
vapor street lights on Main Street, the ground by winter.
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