Jun. 19—The first regulated utility in New York to become fully employee-owned is in Delaware County.
The Margaretville Telephone Company announced in a media release it completed its transition to 100% employee-ownership on June 7, after several years of transition.
The company was founded by the Birdsall and Roadman families and had been owned by five generations of the families until the June 7, transaction. The transition began in 1985 when the Employee Stock Ownership Plan was established as the primary retirement plan for employees, a media release said. This retirement plan gave one-third ownership to the employees, the release said. After completing a broadband expansion in 2013, the company completed a secondary phase of ownership in 2018. In this transition, the Employee Stock Ownership Plan gained another third of the company, to gain a majority of the ownership, Matthew Steen, marketing manager said.
The state Department of Public Service granted final regulatory approval for the transition in April, the release said.
"This has been a very exciting accomplishment for all of us at MTC," Glen Faulkner, president and CEO, said in the release "The employee-ownership model sets forth a structure which benefits all stakeholders, the company, employees, and community alike. It was the desire of all parties to keep the management and ownership aspects of the Company local. The ESOP fosters greater employee engagement, career growth, and job satisfaction. The region benefits by retaining a growing company which offers employment opportunities and continued investment back into our local communities."
The company has 45 employees and services 9,000 customers across portions of Delaware, Ulster, Greene, Schoharie and Sullivan counties, Steen said. The company offers residential high-speed internet up to 1Gig download speeds, whole-home managed Wi-Fi, cable TV services with more than 200 channels, and unlimited local and long-distance home phone service, Steen said. The company also offers commercial-grade WiFi and phone systems to businesses, he said.
Over the upcoming months, the company plans to introduce several new service offerings and technology enhancements, which are already in their final testing phases, the release said. Continued investments in broadband expansion to unserved and underserved regions will remain a top priority for the company.