Giving & Gratitude - Golden Belt / GBT Communications

Giving & Gratitude

November 8, 2022

The month of November tends to make people take a moment and recognize what they are thankful for and at GBT we are no different. The picture above highlights the individuals that form the GBT team and without each and everyone we could not provide the high level of service we strive to give all customers every day. In October, GBT celebrated Customer Appreciation Week with our employees, highlighting each employee and showing a collective appreciation for the many talents each of them brings to the GBT team. For almost 70 years, GBT has been the area leader in communication services, striving to deliver leading edge technology to our friends, family, and neighbors. We feel we continue to be on the leading edge with our fiber deployment and expansion to homes in the Golden Belt area and want to thank all our employees who help get the job done each day!

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy

We also want to thank our amazing customers who choose GBT for their communication needs. People of all ages, from businesses to individuals, utilize GBT daily and partner with us to meet their communication and technology demands. As 2022 nears to a close, we want to thank you for placing your trust in GBT and our employees to serve you.

GBT isn’t just thankful for all of our employees, we also want to recognize and highlight some opportunities to support the amazing organizations in our area. Although donations to support organizations are always welcome, Giving Tuesday highlights the need to support non-profits and organizations that give back to the communities and people that live in them, having a positive impact on all our lives.

Some might ask why GBT highlights this opportunity each year and one of the biggest reasons is because of the amount of GBT employees that serve on various boards and organizations outside of their 8-5 jobs. It’s what makes GBT different from other communication
companies in the area, where our employees are involved and committed to making a difference in the communities we serve. We understand how having a safe place for students to go after games or activities, sponsoring and honoring our current military and veterans, or teaching youth about technology and future career paths can have everlasting impacts. Each year GBT donates thousands of dollars to local organizations, activities, and events and volunteers hundreds of hours to help assist in making sure these events are a success throughout the year. GBT wants to ensure these meaningful organizations that help so many local people continue to thrive and succeed so check out some opportunities on Giving Tuesday to give back.

The Fiber Road Less Traveled – GBT’s 600-Mile Fiber Quest in Rural Kansas

Community, Internet

If you drove from Kansas City to Denver, it would take you almost 9 hours and a little over 600 miles to get there. Now what does this distance have to do with GBT? That’s the approximate amount of fiber optic cabling, 600 miles, that GBT is installing to homes and businesses in our Rural Part of Kansas, just in 2023! Fiber optics is hard to visualize because it’s just a small piece of glass the size of a human hair, but if we stay on the roads theme, GBT is essentially laying 600 miles of a 1,000-lane highway to 100s of rural residents so they have the same access to broadband and the world that many of us take for granted. As one resident who was recently connected to fiber Internet services conveyed to GBT, “For the first time since we have lived in the country, we now know what it’s like to have Internet that we can do anything we want with. We can watch streaming shows on our tv, my kids can do homework on their tablets, and my husband and I can browse or search the Internet all at the same time. It is amazing!” “For the first time since we have lived in the country, we now know what it’s like to have Internet that we can do anything we want with. We can watch streaming shows on our TV, my kids can do homework on their tablets, and my husband and I can browse or search the Internet all at the same time. It is amazing!” With 600 miles of fiber being buried in the ground, and hundreds of homes that need to be connected, planning, timing, and implementation is key. GBT understands everyone is excited and wants to be first to get fiber, and it is our goal to get fiber deployed as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of quality, safety, or reliability. When deploying fiber, many just see the final part of the process when GBT technicians install the fiber service inside the home, but few realize that staking, right-of-way permits, ordering and receiving of materials, main-line and drop-to-the-home construction, installation of central office electronics,...

2023 Annual Meeting Recap

Community, Cooperative, Press Releases

GBT held its 70th Annual Meeting Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at the GBT Headquarters in Rush Center. A drive-thru meeting was conducted, with 124 Members receiving an Annual Meeting booklet of 2022 Reports, along with a ballot. Board member elections were held for District 2 – Ellis, McCracken and District 4 – Alexander, Bazine, Rush Center. Election Results: District 2 – Philip Martin; District 4 – Gene Knieling. All members attending were provided a BBQ meal and door prizes. Congratulations to the following winners of the Special Drawing Prizes: Retirement of $250 Capital Credit – Paul Jost, Rush Center Retirement of $250 Capital Credit – Daryl North, Ellis 1 Month Free Internet – Lavern Schneider, Albert 1 Month Free Internet – Terry Seltmann, Rush Center $70 GBT Bill Credit – Joey Bevitt, Rush Center $70 GBT Bill Credit – Clarence Foos, Bazine $70 GBT Bill Credit –Harry & Helen Thorne, Rozel $70 GBT Bill Credit –Corey & Cari Torrez, Rush Center $70 GBT Bill Credit –Brandi Seltmann, Bazine $70 GBT Bill Credit –Hoop & Twila Higgins, McCracken $70 GBT Bill Credit – Don Hanhardt, Albert $70 GBT Bill Credit – Fred Flax, Ransom $70 GBT Bill Credit – Cynthya Billinger, Lewis $70 GBT Bill Credit – Linda Bahr, Otis

GBT Annual Meeting 2023 – Letter from the General Manager

Community, Cooperative

I am grateful to have this yearly opportunity to connect with our members and share cooperative happenings. It allows GBT representatives to visit and provide members with our successes, challenges, finances, and plans for the future. For 70 years, all our member-owners have trusted us to connect you to the world. Although we call this an annual meeting, it is really a celebration for you, our member-owners. This year embarks a special celebration as the cooperative not only celebrates its 70th year in business, but also anticipates crossing the finish line on connecting every member with FIBER!!! The Cooperative covers over 3,200 square miles with 1.6 members per mile, so this mark comes with a lot of pride from the GBT team. This kind of accomplishment doesn’t happen without a vision that has covered many decades of sound leadership, planning, and commitment from past and present Board members and employees. Over the last couple decades, that vision includes investing in fiber; GBT believes a fiber investment is one that keeps the future in mind. A fiber network transforms rural areas by strengthening commerce, advancing education, enabling precision agriculture, and improving healthcare. The GBT Board gave the direction to begin plowing fiber to its members in 2007, and now in 2023, we are 97% complete! GBT has invested over $46 million dollars in fiber to the home builds since the Board directed back in ‘07. In 2022, the rural areas of Garfield and nearly all the Bison exchange were completed, along with the City of St. John. It is our objective to build the rural areas of Burdett, Otis, Utica, and Beeler this year, along with the cities of Larned, Macksville, and Stafford. We can be grateful that our financial position comes at a time when we are on the cusp of a capital expenditure program of more than $15 million in fiber deployment. The cooperative feels very strongly about ensuring our members have a reliable and quality broadband...

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