Press Room Archive20082003
2002
2001
Blackfoot Issues $5000 Challenge Grant to Clinton Community
Youth Tour
Blackfoot sponsors two high school juniors to go to Washington, DCFebruary 4, 2008 Missoula, Mont – The Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative is pleased to again sponsor two local high school juniors to represent Western Montana at the 14th Annual FRS Youth Tour. Blackfoot covers all expenses for the tour which will begin May 31 and end June 4, 2008. The deadline for receiving applications is March 3, 2008. If you are interested, log on to www.blackfoot.com/youthtour for requirements and instructions.
FCC Commissioner Martin in Arlee
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| Jeff Baker Mitch Griffin Dave Bigart Steve Cik | St Ignatius (Cover St Ignatius, Arlee, Charlo, and Dixon) Seeley Lake (Cover Seeley Lake, Ovando, and Condon) Missoula (Cover Potomac, Clinton, Alta and Powell) Plains (Cover Plains, Paradise, Superior, and St Regis) |
Electronic Educational Equipment (EEE) donated $24,000 worth of equipment to rural public schools throughout western Montana. EEE, a joint program sponsored by Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative, Inc., Clark Fork Telecommunications, Inc., Missoula Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Energy Partners, LLC, was formed in 1989 with the goal of the program to focus on purchasing equipment for students' use in rural schools.
Since its inception, the EEE Program has donated computers, televisions, digital cameras and other types of educational equipment to schools in areas the four sponsoring companies serve. This year the program expanded to have sixty-four schools participating in the annual event. Total donations to date exceed more than $192,000. On January 17, 2002, EEE awarded 47 schools equipment. 362 pieces of equipment have gone out to eligible schools over the past 13 years.
"Many of these are small schools with funding allocated according to the number of students enrolled. By receiving the equipment from EEE, the schools are able to provide their students educational opportunities using technologies they would not otherwise be able to afford,"Harry LaFriniere, Chairman of the EEE Committee. "We view the students attending these schools as the future of our companies. We feel that it is important for young people to experience the value of cooperative based principles to demonstrate the value of people pulling together to accomplish more than they can as individuals."
Special thanks to the late Bill Nelson, co-chairman of the EEE luncheon committee, for his commitment to this project. Bill will be missed by us all.
Over the past couple years, many counties within Blackfoot Telephone service areas have been working on implementing enhanced 9-1-1 (E 9-1-1) services. E 9-1-1 is a system which routes an emergency call to the 9-1-1 call center closest to the caller, AND automatically displays the caller’s physical address on the computer screen. Also displayed is the caller’s telephone number, which can automatically be redialed if the line is disconnected. Therefore, if the caller is unable to speak, or unable to provide location information, he or she can still be located with a map.
To gain the full benefits of enhanced 9-1-1 service, each telephone number must be linked to a physical address assigned by the county and on file with the local telephone company, so that any 9-1-1 caller can be located by emergency service providers. In addition to providing the location for emergency responders, the physical address of the telephone will also determine how the 9-1-1 call is routed. Enhanced 9-1-1 uses a caller’s location, not telephone exchange, to direct a call to the appropriate call answering center. This contrasts with current 9-1-1 service, which sometimes cannot route the call to an answering center capable of dispatching the emergency assistance to the caller’s location.
Creating physical addresses requires naming all roads, including private roads, with unique names and assigning numbers consistently to all properties. Once the road names and property numbers are assigned and adopted by the county, the new physical addresses can be used for 9-1-1 service, for mail delivery, utility companies, delivery services and others. Most of the counties within Blackfoot Telephone service areas have contracted with a mapping company to map all roads and structures for this purpose.
Creating physical addresses is a responsible act of local government. By assigning physical addresses, a community allows its residents to take full advantage of enhanced 9-1-1 service. Ways to assist in the process of implementing E 9-1-1 are:
The employees of Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative, parent company of the Blackfoot Companies, have once again opened their hearts to the needs of the season. Through various activities during November and December, a total of $3748.00 was raised for charity and 3952 pounds of food was collected. The money will be divided between Habitat for Humanity and the Ronald McDonald House. The food will be split amongst the Food Banks in Superior, Noxon and Philipsburg. A silent auction, a live auction and a two team competition comprised the activities which raised the money and food. “The spirit of the season and some good hearted competition among the Blackfoot employees is what made this year’s events so successful and fulfilling,” Earl Owens, CEO of the Blackfoot Companies. “Blackfoot is more than a place to work, it is a family. The staff and management believe we don’t just live in a community, we are a part of the community. This time of year the spirit of the holiday season comes alive and we are happy to be a part of it.”
Vision Net Inc. and Blackfoot Telephone recently held an Open House at the Vision Net Studio located at Blackfoot Telephone's Missoula Office on North Russell in Missoula. Over 40 business customers were able to view active video conferences being held between Great Falls, Billings, and Missoula. Vision Net Inc. which is headquartered in Great Falls has nearly 80 sites in Montana.
The interactive conference facility allows customers to meet business associates in other cities without having to leave town, thus saving substantial travel dollars and travel time. According to Dean Milyard, Marketing Representative for Blackfoot Companies, the speed and clarity of transmission, along with the professional atmosphere and absolute privacy make this one of the best business communication values in Montana. In addition to the 80 sites located in the state, Vision Net has the ability to connect to an additional 3,500 sites around the world.
FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin was recently in Arlee visiting the Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative central office. Blackfoot Telephone representatives were on hand to show Martin state-of-the-art rural central office switching equipment used to deliver local dial tone and broadband services to the community. Martin also toured the Jocko Valley Public Library where Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative provides a free DSL connection along with two computers for public use. While in Missoula for the Annual Montana Telecommunications Association meeting, Martin praised the deployment of advanced services to rural areas. Also attending were Geoff Feiss, General Manager of the Montana Telecommunications Association, Joan Mandeville, Blackfoot CEO, Bill Squires, Blackfoot Sr. Vice President, and Stuart Morton, Blackfoot Trustee from St. Ignatius. 
Clusters of tents are placed throughout the meadow and in spite the camps' rural location the fire camps are high tech. The Strawberry Mountain Fire Camp in Clinton, the Crazy Horse Fire Camp in Condon and the Mineral/Primm Fire Camp in Potomac each have information specialists and communications specialists working on their computers with DSL connections. The high-speed Internet connections via DSL allow the specialists to keep abreast of current weather conditions and keep fire maps updated. "The DSL connections are for official use only," according to Phil Austin with the Lolo National Forest. 
Phil mentioned that part of his role is to equip the camps with the telecommunications services they need. "Staff members use the Internet at the command centers for on-line meetings and for coordinating fire fighting efforts." Right now, more than fifty percent of the entire nation's "hot shot crews" are in Montana fighting fires. Other fire crews fighting our local fires are the Type 1 and Type 2 teams. Having dependable communications systems is a must and having DSL out in these field camps is a significant benefit," according to Mr. Austin. "It's been great working with Blackfoot," says Phil. 
Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative sadly announces the death of its President, James Couture. Couture passed away on Tuesday, July 29, 2003, after a difficult battle with cancer. Despite his declining health, Couture continued his strong leadership role for the Cooperative through the July Board Meeting. "Jim’s commitment to Blackfoot and to Montana’s rural areas was always apparent," said Joan Mandeville, Blackfoot’s Chief Executive Officer. Couture served on the Board of Trustees for Blackfoot Telephone from 1993 until his death. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Montana Telecommunications Association (MTA), an organization that promotes the interests of rural telephone companies. At its Annual Convention last week, MTA honored the work of Couture on behalf of Montana’s rural communities.
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