Welcome to 5G Talent Talk.

I'm your host, Carrie Charles, and I'm
thrilled that you're with me today.

I'm also excited to have my guest today,
Joe Pellegrini.

He is the president and COO of Great
Plains Communication.

Thanks for joining me, Joe.

Thanks, Carrie.

Appreciate you taking some time today.

Yes, yes.

I remember I met you years ago at a
conference and I've always had such

incredible respect for you.

So I'm really excited about this
conversation, but...

First, let's hear about your, you know,
your past.

How did you get into telecom?

How did you get to your seat today?

Yeah, it's really a true telecom journey
for me.

It started way back when I graduated
college and got a job with Southern New

England Telephone on the I-Lac side.

So I started the construction division.

I got asked to move over to management and
then actually took part in a layoff.

So that was kind of my first, you know,

piece of the larger telecom experience.

I was six years there, but Fibertech was
really picking up.

So I jumped in with Fibertech, I was there
12, 13 years.

And then Fibertech got bought by Light
Tower, Light Tower got bought by Crown

Castle.

And that allowed me to step away at that
point in time.

I figured I wasn't going to be interested
in being part of the bigger business like

that, which opened up the opportunity with
Everstream.

And we just really, we grew that business
unbelievably over those four years.

And then it's been almost two years now
I've been at Great Plains.

So kind of stepped into this seat to
continue doing what we've been doing for a

lot of years, which is really looking at
systems and processes and growing the

businesses and ensuring that the customer
experience is absolutely the best it can

be.

So yeah, just a true 26 years of telecom
journey for sure.

So I want to hear the Great Plains
Communication story, but first.

When we spoke, you said that the company
has been around, is it 113 years?

Yeah, taking good notes.

Yeah, 113 years.

Wow.

We are just, we are one of the oldest kind
of infrastructure providers across the

Midwest.

It started in Crete in Nebraska as a local
telephone company and as a technology and

as communications changed and business
changed with it.

And so we were actually one of the first
providers across the Midwest to lay fiber.

and start to produce fiber fed services.

And then just the growth over the years
has been absolutely outstanding.

So yeah, committed to the customer,
willing to grow in all sorts of rural

America as well as urban.

And so really a committed business to
providing to the underserved and unserved

as well as the business community, the
tower community and all the rest that we

can put on our platform.

What makes GPC different?

wow.

I think there's a few different things.

But I would say the fact that we have, I
would say, six different business units

that we continually feed and care for.

We are not a pure play fiber to the home.

We're not a pure play enterprise.

We're not a pure play fiber to the tower.

We have a really robust wholesale
business.

We work with carriers.

We do a decent amount of work now with the
hyperscalers as, you know,

not just providing service of
connectivity, high ping of connectivity

for them, but also being a point of
presence inside the facilities to ensure

that we can often onload services as well.

So really just having a broader based
business as opposed to kind of a single

shoot business, it allows us to kind of
dial up or dial down the business in each

one of those market segments.

Perfect example, MDU.

So they just started the MDU about, this
is about three years ago, really

wholeheartedly.

And last year, the MDU group grew 96% in
one.

Wow.

Yeah.

So, but we saw it as a market opportunity,
you know, turn the dial up, put the proper

resources and dollars and people behind
the effort and really, you know, we're

gaining those dividends now, which is,
it's very impressive, the growth over the

three year period.

my goodness.

So I know that you're a player in digital
equity, like you just said, and also BEAD

funding as well.

Talk about how GPC is going to participate
in the BEAD funding.

Yeah, so I think that's a two -part
question for me.

What I want to give you is a little bit of
the history, right?

So the history behind our involvement,
GPC's involvement in government -led

efforts to solve for the broadband piece
is

15 to 20 years old in terms of its current
iteration.

It's led for us by one of the leaders in
the business really.

It's amazing how much Ken Pfister, that's
who it is, how much time, energy and

effort he has spent.

He actually came from AT&T before this on
the policy side.

He's been with us for 15 years.

And so we participate in a whole ton of
programs already.

We work in the capital projects funds,
broadband bridge, the next level three and

four over in Indiana.

We just were very successful in a reverse
auction here in Nebraska.

And then we participate in a large way
with the new enhanced ACAM program.

And so ACAM was developed by I think in
2008, it's had two enhancements since this

was the third and the really, really big
one that's going to cover a whole ton of

our area.

So we participate there as well.

So I would say for the bead piece and the
upcoming piece, bead gets a whole ton of

airtime.

It really does.

Everybody's talking about the 42 and a
half billion.

Everybody's nervous that it's going to be
an RDOF 2.0 and we hope it's

administrated much, much more robustly
than the prior.

So we will absolutely participate indeed.

We're excited about our participation, but
it's going to be in a thoughtful manner

because we participate in so many
governmental programs right now, whether

they're locally in terms of the state or
backed by the federal government.

We've had a ton of success inside of each
and every one of those.

And so our commitment to the business and
our commitment then to the customer and

the public dollar that we're receiving,
you know, just year over year, we're

hitting those commitments.

We're bringing services further and
further into rural America, solving for

the deeds and the digital inequity in so
many places that we understand BEDE.

We're going to wait for all the rules to
get kind of clarified in every single

state.

And then we will thoughtfully participate
across our footprint.

where we feel we can continue to succeed
in terms of taking those dollars, bringing

those services to those local
constituents, and ensuring that we land

where we're supposed to within the
governmental timeframes as well.

So yeah, it'll be another piece of kind of
a successful deployment across the board

for us.

Okay.

So let's switch gears a bit to company
culture, because I just love to hear not

only about the culture of GPC, but...

you know, how you've been able to maintain
that culture over 113 years.

And obviously it's not, I'm sure the
culture has, has evolved and transformed

over that time period.

It has, it really has.

I know it is transformed since we've now
been PE owned.

So Grain Management took ownership on 2018
and they've been a tremendous partner,

really helped ramp up the growth.

And they came to us, David Grain and his
team came to us with a really strong

telecom understanding as well as tower.

So they understood the space, but they
didn't stand in front of us.

They stood along us and helped move the
business forward.

Before that, it was more, it was the
family owned.

So it's a slightly different version of
things, right?

In terms of spend and year over year until
a run rate and all the other pieces of it.

But the culture, I would say it's a
wonderful place to be.

In fact, we have some folks that have been
here 25, 35, 40 years, and we have other

folks that have been here, you know, seven
days.

And so having those internal folks who
have the history with them, that when we

bring folks in, I don't want to say you
indoctrinate them, but I would think it

gives them a healthy understanding of one,
the history, but to the effort that it

takes to continue to be a positive work
environment and deliver to the customer

and a place you want to come to.

Folks aren't going to stay 25 years if it
isn't an interesting place where they're

continuing to learn and grow as well.

but that you're solving for and delivering
on the commitment to the customer.

And I think that really resonates inside
of our walls is that commitment to the

customer.

I mean, I've been in multiple meetings
where, you know, I'm sitting across the

table or right next to a person who is, so
another one of our leaders who is being an

advocate, a staunch advocate for the
consumer, as opposed to just an executive

makes a suggestion and everybody kind of
nods and goes, okay, we'll do that.

People are willing to kind of quote
unquote fight back a little, right?

And say, listen, I don't think that's the
right thing to do, or I don't think that's

the right route to build, or I think we
can solve for more of this local community

if we do this and this.

So there's a real advocacy for the
consumer inside those walls, and that

permeates all the different groups.

And I think that's one piece of the
culture that people can be really proud of

the business they're working for, because
it's not just making money.

It's working through the commitment to the
customer, whether it's a business customer

or a residential, and makes, I would
imagine, a lot easier for all of us to

come to work every day, knowing to enjoy
your job.

Yes, yes.

You mentioned, and I want to go back to
this, you have someone that's been there

25 years.

I mean, that's incredible retention.

Talk more about your, I guess, your secret
to your unusually high retention.

Yeah, I would say it's respecting.

the employee, no matter what level, no
matter what pay grade, no matter what

title, right?

We have 400, over 400 employees and carry
50%, over 50 % work and live in the

community they service.

And so it's not a we do it from afar kind
of business, but folks are seeing, you

know, customers who are also friends and
neighbors and family members at church, in

the grocery store, at the local baseball
game, whatever it may be.

So their commitment to the business and
their commitment to the customer, you got

to look these folks in the face, right?

On a daily basis.

And so it really creates that
collaborative atmosphere, that team

atmosphere where we want to succeed for
the business and for the customer.

And it's honestly that respectful,
truthful engagement and allowing people to

be a part of the business as opposed to
just, you know, go do X, Y and Z.

And that's that.

We'll go do X and if it's not working,
change X and let's understand why and be a

part of that.

And so that fully engaged atmosphere is
probably one of the key tenants of the

culture.

So how do you prioritize growth and
development for your employees?

Because I know that's something that's
very important to GPC.

It is.

And for me personally, as well as the
business, it's allowing people to be

responsible for their decisions.

And as parochial as that may sound,

Right.

It's not always, as easy to roll out in a
business, but asking someone to

participate in the decision in not just
the decisions, but in the execution.

And then they get to also participate,
which is, I think something that's

missing.

Sometimes they get to participate in the
success or the failure.

What I don't want to do is shield my team
or them shield their team from the

success.

or the failure, right?

Because both of them build a stronger,
better -informed employee base.

And so if we continue to ensure that we're
promoting folks in leadership and we're

teaching and we're mentoring and we're
allowing them to participate in the

culture events as well as like 360
feedback and all the other kind of fun HR

things, we're still pulling it back to the
sharing and the decision -making, the

direction of our policy, and then...

If it's great, let's all celebrate
together.

If it's stunk, let's postmortem.

Let's figure it out together, but let's
not just sweep that under the carpet or

lie to each other and say, well, it was
some other external something.

99 % of the time, we could have changed
something to achieve a better hokong.

Let's figure that out together.

One of the number one desires of our
workforce today, specifically, you know,

millennial gen Z, but it's, and really, I
think everyone is,

having a voice and what you just described
is a platform for having a voice at your

company, right?

Absolutely, absolutely.

And it's, and it's, I would say it's
uncomfortable for some leaders and this

would be maybe a piece of advice I would
give to all the leaders out there.

and I've said this before and I think I've
even quoted saying this before.

Just because you have a title doesn't give
you the right to talk.

When you're talking, you're not learning.

When you're listening, you're learning.

And you can learn from every single one of
your team members, whether it's someone

you're reporting to, or that's reporting
to you, or maybe a couple layers back into

the business.

But closing your mouth, listening to maybe
someone who is a little closer to the

actual problem.

And I think we struggle with that as
leaders because we have solved a ton of

problems in our careers.

I mean, 26 years, I've made thousands and
thousands of decisions.

Some have been horrible.

Some have been great, right?

And in the middle is the rest.

But listening, learning, pulling people
into the process and allowing them to

engage on that level, that's for me, it's
been one of the most important pieces of

my personal growth and the way I like to
manage as well.

How do you train up your leaders?

Do you have an internal training program?

Do you bring in someone from the outside?

Yeah, so we just completed a four module
program here.

We took our 60.

60 of our leaders, so all senior
executives were required to go as well.

It wasn't just, you know, management
director, VP, it was all the C -suite was

in attendance as well.

So C -suite directors and VPs, and we went
through a full day each time with a dinner

and everything else, but brought everybody
together.

Nobody was remote.

We brought everybody together and we had
an outside vendor come in local to

Nebraska and do...

just that he went through all sorts of
wonderful things.

We had breakout sessions and we changed
tables every single time.

And so that each of the four sessions, you
were sitting with different people.

It was all designed by our HR team to put
multiple groups at a table, not just

everybody from your department or
something like that.

So it created a cross pollination of
ideas.

You met a whole bunch of different folks
in the business who maybe you hadn't been.

And then from that, we're taking some of
those tenants and building out, at least

it goes into the business.

We also do 360 feedback for a select group
every single year.

And then we do mentoring as well as
there's a culture, the Tenants of Culture

program that we participate in that people
are able to jump in and do some of the

kind of the university stuff online if
they'd like to get badges and everything

like that.

So there's, we are really committed to the
continued growth of, of the entire

employee base.

Absolutely wonderful.

So Joe, I want to know about you as a
leader.

What is, you know, who are you and as a
leader and what's most important to you?

So I've thought about this before and it's
hard to boil yourself down into one, one

or two sentences, right?

But I would say for me, honestly, I don't
use words like drive and force or push.

My

biggest thing is I'm trying to incent
folks.

I'm trying to teach people.

I'm trying to ensure a curiosity in them
that then motivates them to be the

internal driver of their next steps.

So I can tell, I can push, I can dictate,
we can all do that.

But if I can create an internal curiosity
in someone to understand deeper into a KPI

or deeper into a metric or want to be a
better leader,

because they're seeing how our
relationship is.

They want to have a similar relationship.

And I also want to have fun.

I want to come to work and have fun.

And again, maybe to rah rah, but I've been
accused before of being the guy running

around with pom poms, promoting the next
cool thing in the business.

But I want to have fun.

There's no reason for us to come here and
fight.

We should be coming.

And if we do disagree, if we disagree
toward the problem,

we don't disagree toward each other.

Because when we disagree toward each
other, it just creates the rift.

If we disagree toward the problem, then
we're looking at solving it from different

perspectives.

And so if we can come and treat each other
well, incent that kind of curiosity

amongst each other, and then teach and
mentor and share information, the business

by default and by design appreciates right
along with it.

So we've heard...

over and over again, and it's just such a
hot topic about remote work versus hybrid

versus in office.

And I'm just curious about your thoughts
here.

I am 100 % on board with remote work and
Great Plains Communications has embraced

100 % as well.

And for us specifically, I mean, right now
we may be based in Blair, Nebraska.

And we have a 13 state footprint.

It's 1 ,100 miles wide.

It's, you know, it's, it's an expansive
footprint, but we now have employees in

all four time zones.

And so the systems and the processes and
the tools that are available have allowed

us to step back and say, yeah, it's
terrific having people near each other.

And I think it was Tony Shea, right?

He was the one that talked about
collisions being near each other and

having those conversational collisions.

Right.

But for us.

Being able to broaden the scope of who we
can bring into the business, we are

attracting world -class talent to a
regional business, which then positions us

to move outside of that region, right?

In terms of having the true talent and
folks that really understand the backplane

of the business and the systems of the
architecture and the tools, and maybe that

person isn't near one of your offices, but
you can now bring them on board.

because we have adopted, accepted, and
understand a remote work policy that's

really working for our business.

Obviously, technicians, tough to work
remote, right?

But those are also the tough folks that
are near and dear to those communities and

are in those communities, and they
wouldn't want that any other way.

But for us, some of the office staff and
some of the administrative piece, whether

it's systems tools or whatever, as well as
executive.

we can pull that talent from so many
different places now.

And at the end of the day, we have the
right systems, we have the right tools, we

treat folks like adults.

And if they're willing to participate at
that level, whether it's at the home

office or on the road or directly here in
the office, we're loving the fact that

they want to engage with us and become a
part of the GPC family.

Gosh, sounds like a wonderful place to
work.

This is, I'm sold, I'm sold.

Let's talk about vision.

What is your vision or the vision for GPC
moving forward, let's say, the next five

years or so?

Yeah, well, and I can even bring you a
little further than that.

We participate in some of the regulatory
programs that actually are funded through

2039 already.

Wow.

And so we don't just have, we have a
fairly large telescope.

when it comes to looking down the path of
continued growth and solving for the

commitments to our constituents and our
customers.

For us as a business, though, it's
continued thoughtful growth.

Everybody got caught up four or five years
ago in the grow to grow cheap dollars.

Fiber to the home was becoming the next
big thing.

In 2013, it was small sell.

And five years later, it was fixed
wireless.

And a few years back, it was Fiber to the
Home.

And all of those still have homes and
places in the architecture of

communications.

But really for us, it's continued
thoughtful growth.

Like I said, six different kinds of
tendons and channels of the business that

allow us to specifically, like I said, at
NDU or Fiverr to the Home or the business

and enterprise segment to kind of turn up
those dollars and turn up the pressure

inside of those groups to grow in
different areas and different segments.

So for us, it's continued thoughtful
deployment of capital.

Capital is double.

in terms of the cost.

So it's, we talk about it at length that,
you know, there's a lot of businesses out

there that are going to be shown for what
they are when they're pulling down 10 %

money, as opposed to three or 4 % money.

And we, the GPC great business never put
themselves over their skis.

They've always thoughtfully deployed
capital.

And that allows us to kind of crank up and
crank down where needed.

So yeah, continued development across.

all different sub segments of the business
and where we're finding success or

opportunity, we turn up the dial and we
run a little harder down that path.

But yeah, we have a pretty long -term
vision, but it doesn't remove our

flexibility.

As market forces change, we're going to
change with them.

That's maybe another one of the pieces of
who I am as well.

We can be wrong and it's okay.

There is almost no penalty for being wrong
in my group.

Specifically and I know that a lot of the
other execs feel that way here The whole

idea is if you're making decisions, you're
gonna screw up occasionally if you make no

decisions Then you're never gonna mess up
and so again on that incenting people to

own their their decisions and their
progress and their and their success You

have to be able to make enough decisions
to occasionally stub your toe Well, we're

gonna sweep you off.

We're gonna tell you we can help but fix
it We're gonna fix it.

We're gonna throw you right back in the
game

because just not making enough decisions
and not continuing to want to grow.

So the business across the boards continue
to grow, continue to incent folks, and

continue to solve for our customers'
needs, whatever, whether it's the business

segment or the home consumer.

There's so many gold nuggets in this
episode.

And the more I get to know you, I have
even more respect for you now, Joe.

Thank you for sharing everything about
your culture, your leadership.

It's just been...

I've learned a lot myself.

So I, what is your, what is your website?

Are you hiring right now?

I'm sure there's people listening that are
ready to go to your job stage and ask how

do I become a team member at Great Plains
right now?

Yeah, great question.

So anybody can jump on our website.

It's gpcom .com.

So great community, great place
communications .com.

So gpcom .com.

And inside of that, if you go up to our
top right hand corner, you're going to see

a tab, which is, I think it's the careers
tab.

You hit that dropdown and inside that
dropdown, it's going to give you a couple

of choices and you can look up in your
careers and see all the different openings

that we have right now, as well as our
benefits.

I think that's another thing.

We are extremely open with what we offer,
whether it's the job or the benefits

associated with it.

And so, yeah, I recommend anybody who's
interested in just learning a little bit

more about the business, the footprint,
what we offer.

the business community, where we're
building fiber to the home, how we're

engaged kind of with communities.

There's a lot of community stuff on there
as well.

I mean, we're in 200 communities across
our footprint.

And so that allows us to engage with, you
know, the baseball games and sponsorships

of the bake sales, as well as scholarships
and community events.

So we want to be quality partners and
quality tenants inside those areas.

So yeah, please go to the JIV website
again, gpcom .com.

learn a little bit more about the
footprint, learn a little more about our

offerings, but also there's a careers page
and you can learn about what we have open

right now and then the benefits associated
with it.

Joe, thank you so much for coming on the
show.

Here is a pleasure.

Appreciate your time this morning.

Yes, absolutely.

I will see you soon.

Absolutely.

Take care.

Take care.