New Horizons Telecom Inc.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.
• Position: Company Profile

Top 49ers Allstars COMPANY PROFILE

2002 Top 49er Ranking: 39

Position Last Year: 37

2001 Revenue: $24.9 million

Number of Employees: 92

New Horizons Telecom Inc. had relatively humble beginnings--"myself, a partner, two pickup trucks full of tools, a drafting table, and a couple of airplanes," according to company CEO John Lee. Since, it has taken its name to heart, using its success in the 49th state to catapult the company into the international market of communications commerce.

Now, it's 24 years later and New Horizons Telecom Inc. has more than 1,000 projects under its belt, ranging from $10,000 to over $25 million.

GOOD SHIPS

"We started building mountaintop microwave repeater sites, work that nobody else wanted to do," Lee says of the company's 1978 start. Nearly a quarter century later and the company is continuing to expand its horizons as an Alaska Business Monthly Top 49er, with headquarters remaining in Alaska, but additional full-service operations centered in Atlanta and Seattle. New Horizons Telecom saw its revenue jump from $17.2 million two years ago to nearly $25 million in 2001.

The secret behind that positive record? Lee says it's a combination of considering the client and the quality of the deliverable. "Many companies talk-the-talk, but few walk-the-walk," he says. "We take very good care of our clients' interests, as if they were our own. Sometimes they realize we are doing that, sometimes they do not. But we always give them the best possible value for their money, no matter what. Even in cases where we find we might be losing money ourselves.

"I don't recall the author, but long ago I read a quote from a British shipbuilder:

'We build good ships, sometimes at a profit, sometimes at a loss ... but, always good ships,"' Lee recalls. "New Horizons has a very old-fashioned attitude and we live by that quote."

WIDE HORIZONS

Though the company bills itself primarily as a design-build firm, its complete service description is much more. New Horizons Telecom Inc. offers comprehensive architectural and engineering design-build services--to include civil, electrical and mechanical emphasis; also general and electrical contracting; project management expertise; construction, environmental and permitting management; and substantial experience with telecommunications facility design, to include construction integration and equipment installation.

"Our best service is design-build," Lee says. "Telecom has always been our...