Matanuska Telephone Association Inc.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: Top Guns * Alaska's Top 49ers

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 television services.

Serving an area of more than 10,000 square miles, MTA also is one of the largest employers in the Mat-Su Valley, with approximately 300 employees.

"I think that the real key to our success is that we are locally owned, so we can focus on our community's needs and wants," said Berberich. "We are not only a telecommunications company, but a community partner as well."

"MTA is very good at listening to, and respecting, our customers," agreed Jackie Whitstine, public relations supervisor. "Our members are also owners, and they are treated that way. It means a lot to them that we go out into the community and talk to them; that we request feedback. They all have a part in running this company."

When MTA was first established, its services included party lines and rotary dial phones. Today, it offers wireless, broadband and fiber-optic services, and has begun to expand into the digital TV market.

"We have been very blessed with amazing people over the years, each of whom has had a really strong vision of where the future of telecommunications was going," said Berberich. "Our network has been evolving at least five to 10 years ahead of other telecommunications companies, always with the focus of bringing more value to our members."

MTA's foray into digital TV...