By Mary Owen
Stayton Cooperative Telephone Co. won the 2012 Stayton/Sublimity Chamber of Commerce’s award for Large Business of the Year.
“SCTC is honored to receive this award,” said Don Lawrence, president and chief executive officer. “The employees at SCTC work hard to bring quality products and excellent service to the communities we serve. This recognition of their efforts is greatly satisfying and makes us proud to live and work here.”
Tass Morrison, president of SSCOC, said, “SCTC’s footprint is everywhere in the Stayton and Sublimity areas. Their level of community service is stellar. They sponsor or support many school activities – public and private – from annual scholarships, basketball and wrestling tournaments, fundraisers and outdoor school.”
Morrison called the level of generosity of SCTC’s board of directors and the leadership it has demonstrated over many years “amazing.”
“They are a huge contributor to the Stayton Public Library and the Foundation both financially and in donated technology,” she said. “SCTC sponsors so many significant community events like Relay for Life, our food bank, YMCA activities, fire district programs … the list goes on!”
According to Lawrence, SCTC sponsors nearly every major event in the area and donates to dozens of local and regional charities.
“Our employees serve on local committees and work with the schools,” he said. “Each summer for the past several years, SCTC has organized and successful food drive and our employees organized a winter coat drive in 2012.”
SCTC is also the major sponsor of the Stayton High School SCTC Holiday Classic basketball and wrestling tournaments as well as a major sponsor for Regis High’s Aspire mentoring program.
“We’ve also awarded dozens of scholarships over the years to local high school seniors,” Lawrence said.
And the company provides facility use for the Santiam Senior Center. For a more listings of community projects, visit www.sctcweb.com and click on “Our Community” and “Community Service.”
On the business side, SCTC continues to build its fiber optic network to be able to provide, as Lawrence said, “the most advanced transport facilities for voice, Internet and video services.”
“Our goal is to be able to provide these advanced services to every business and household we serve,” he said. “Future services that we are actively investigating and testing include video (TV), advanced voice services, network support for businesses, and smart home services.”
SCTC is the only locally owned and operated voice and Internet provided in the Stayton/Sublimity area.
“Our customers trust us, and we will do whatever it takes to keep them satisfied,” Lawrence said. “When people in a community spend their money locally, that money recirculates in the community several times and that is critical to the overall success of the community.”
SCTC has grown from 1,060 members in 1955 to 4,336 members today. SCTC also owns two other telecommunications companies, People’s Telephone Co, serving the Mehama/Lyons communities and SCS, serving select areas in Aumsville.
