SHERBURNE – Frontier Communications Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Maggie Wilderotter visited the company’s plant service center in Sherburne Friday, sharing her optimistic view of the phone company’s future with the 190 workers there.
“We’re in the process of becoming the largest rural carrier in the country,” Wilderotter told a crowd of employees and community leaders assembled later for a luncheon at the Canasawacta Country Club. “This deal will triple our size.”
Wilderotter was referencing a deal announced in May that will see Frontier acquiring 4.8 million rural access telephone lines from Verizon, in a transaction valued at $8.6 billion. The acquisition, which is in the process of regulatory approval in several affected states, will position Frontier as the largest pure rural communications services provider in the nation.
While none of those affected Verizon lines are in New York, Wilderotter and Frontier executives indicated that the increased size of their service area would bode well for job opportunities at the local call center, which handles service issues and operations for multiple states from the Sherburne office.
“We’re optimistic that we will see increased employment in this community,” Wilderotter announced to a round of applause. While she declined to estimate numbers, the CEO said the Sherburne call center in particular was well-positioned for future growth, potentially bringing in new jobs and adding to an already $12 million payroll in Chenango County.
“We’re excited about the future as we become a Fortune 500 company,” Wilderotter said.
In addition to forecasting Frontier’s future in providing its customers with state-of-the-art technology and expanding the reach of rural broadband Internet access, Wilderotter also reiterated the company’s commitment to the communities in which they operate and serve. “We’re a local company that’s locally managed,” Wilderotter said, singling out Chenango County’s chief Frontier officer, James Currie, as an example of the company’s investment and interest in the community.
As “tangible evidence” of that commitment, Wilderotter and Currie presented two checks to local organizations at the luncheon. The first, to the Chenango County United Way, was in the amount of $4,134, and represents the local share of “The Great Frontier Donate,” a charitable aim in which the company makes a monetary contribution whenever a customer upgrades a service package. In addition to the percentage, Frontier employees in Sherburne and Norwich joined co-workers throughout the country in hosting food drives at their offices.
The second check was presented in the amount of $10,000 to the Friends of the Park committee, marking the first half of a $20,000 commitment Frontier’s made to the renovation and upgrading of East and West Side Parks in downtown Norwich. That check was accepted by Friends committee members Pegi LoPresti and Eric Larsen.
During her whirlwind tour of Chenango County, the Stamford, Conn.-based Wilderotter said she was impressed by the “beautiful, rolling hills” of the landscape, but even more so by the dedication and enthusiasm of her local employees. “It’s very exciting to be here ... (Sherburne) is our biggest plant service center and we have an excellent team here who are very excited to step up and help out” as the company completes the Verizon acquisition, Wilderotter said.