Matanuska Telephone Association Inc.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 October 2003
• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Published date: 01 October 2003
• Author: Orr, Vanessa

2003 Top 49er Ranking: 15

Position Last Year: N/A

2002 Revenue: $75 million

Number of Employees: 300

How does one judge what makes a company successful? In most cases, it means a look at the bottom line-at the profits the company has earned. But in the case of Matanuska Telephone Association, profit comes second to a larger goal: to serve the greatest number with the greatest good.

"As a member-owned cooperative, our focus is on service over profit--we exist to provide service to our members," explained Chief Executive Officer Greg Berberich. "That is not to say that we don't need to be fiscally sound, or to watch our financials and margins, but service to our customers is our benchmark."

Now a $270 million company with $75 million in annual revenues, MTA got its start in 1953 when a group of Mat-Su residents joined together to establish the telecommunications cooperative. "MTA came about because no private company was willing to provide them with this service," said Berberich.

Since then, the company has grown to include 38,000 members, 60,000 access lines and three subsidiaries that manage wireless, Internet, long-distance, business systems sales, and soon, digital...