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PRSRT STDU.S.POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT #482

Wichita, KSP.O. Box 111100 KanOkla AveCaldwell, KS 67022-0111www.kanokla.comkota@kanokla.comBusiness Hours7:30a.m. - 5:30p.m.Monday - Friday

Help DeskInternet SupportMonday - Friday: 8:00a.m. - 9:00p.m.Saturday: 8:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.Sunday: Noon - 5:00p.m.

KanOkla StoreMonday - Friday: 8:00a.m. - 6:00p.m.

To Contact UsPhone: 620.845.5682Toll Free: 800.526.6552

Chatter Editor - Pam SchneiderAssistant Editor - Kim Reilly

KanOkla Networks is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Volume 45 • No. 6June 2017

• 2017 Scholarship Recipients • Message To Our Members• Is it Smart to Have a Smart Home?

• KanOkla Financial Position• KanOkla installs duct at ball field

2016 is in the books. “Growing Your Cooperative” was the theme for the 2017 KanOkla Annual Meeting, and at this year’s meeting, we were excited to announce our next two KanOkla projects. On behalf of our employees, management team, and the Board of Directors , we believe these ventures will continue to grow our cooperative. We think you will be excited about them, too.

First though, we said goodbye to our good friend and 25 year CEO, Greg Aldridge, and also said hello to our new interim CEO, Dana Pierce, our new Chief Operating Officer, Dave Nance, and finally our new CEO starting May 1st, 2018, Jill Kuehny. We are fortunate to have such high quality professionals working for KanOkla, and working to make your cooperative one of the best in the industry.

We, also, said goodbye to Radio Shack© and hello to a new and improved KanOkla Store in downtown Caldwell. All of your communication needs can be found in one place! We carry a variety of cell phones and accessories including Apple products, Pioneer Cellular service, security systems, and Redline emergency notification services, just to name a few. And for convenience, we carry a wide variety of home goods, such as televisions, small appliances, and Traeger Grills and accessories. We invite you to stop by and see what we have to offer you at the KanOkla Store.

Years ago, we envisioned Fiber To The Home as being our gateway to enhancing the service our customers receive to do many of their day to day activities. We are proud that the KanOkla Fiber To The Home project has been accomplished, and those visions are now becoming reality. It has, and will continue to, help grow and expand KanOkla’s footprint in the area. It has taken several years, and a lot of hard work and planning, to finalize the project and complete the last of the paperwork. And speaking of paperwork, being a regulated industry, we are still wading through the changes in regulations that the FCC brought to us by way of the Obama Administration. Now with a new White House administration, we will, no doubt, see even more changes to our industry.

We continue to grow our wireless Internet both in territory and subscribers. The Internet has changed the way we, and everyone else, does business. It is almost unbelievable that every day jobs that previously would have taken hours or days to complete, are now accomplished instantly at our fingertips. The Internet helps grow entrepreneurship, and from anywhere in the world, it lets people work and grow their business from home. KanOkla encourages family and friends to return to rural America and KanOkla Country, to raise their families in their hometowns, to improve their quality of life, and to grow their business away from the city environment using our state-of-the-art high speed Internet connections.

Cowley College is on its way to establishing a presence in Sumner County as it will build a campus in Wellington, KS. Not only will it offer accessible, affordable higher education and workforce training in the heart of Sumner County, but it will also open avenues for other industries, including KanOkla, to grow. We look forward to working with Cowley College and the student body.

We saw a lot of changes in 2016! Thankfully, we all managed it well. We anxiously await discovering what lies ahead in 2017, the changes we will encounter, and the ways that we will continue “Growing Your Cooperative”.

Thank you for your business and we pray that we all have a blessed 2017.

Scott A. Bannister- Board President

Dana Pierce- Chief Executive Officer

Message to Our Members

Calendar of EventsSouth Haven Sr. Center, serving breakfast every Monday in June at the Senior Center, 7:00a.m. - 9:00a.m.

July 1st - Goltry 4th of July Celebration, Goltry Park, meal cost by donation, later don’t miss out on the homemade ice cream and fireworks. Braman 4th of July Events, night swim at the Braman Pool from 7:00p.m.-10:00p.m. admission is $3, snacks for sale, and a $1ticket raffle. Firework display also!

4th - Hardter 4th of July Celebration, Lil Miss Firecracker at the American Legion at 9:00a.m., parade at 10:00a.m., Veterans Program at United Methodist church at 11:00a.m., events at the park, games at 1:00p.m., Auction at 4:00p.m., free swim from 1:00p.m.-5:00p.m. and free BBQ sandwich feed from 4:00p.m. - 6:00p.m., and big and better fireworks at dark. - Caldwell 4th of July Celebration, Firework Display, Caldwell Football Stadium.

15th - Braman Pool will have a night swim starting at 7:00pm-9:00p.m., snacks for sale, admission $3.

Growing Your Cooperative

The association members of KanOkla Networks gathered at the Caldwell Com-munity Building to conduct the business of their cooperative telecommunications provider on Friday evening, April 22nd.

President Scott Bannister presided and called the busi-ness meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., and gave the Invo-cation. He then presented the 2017 KanOkla Community Service Award winner to Verla Blackledge of Jet, OK.

Secretary/Treasurer Carol Peterson reported a quorum was met with 120 members present. She attested to the mailing of the Notice of Meeting and presented the minutes of the 2016 Annual Meeting which were approved.

President Bannister made two big announcements to the mem-bership. KanOkla Networks will offer Skitter TV later in the year. Skitter TV will offer over 125 channels along with other features such as Pay Per View, DVR storage, Restart TV, and a community channel through competitive plans and pricing. The second announcement was that KanOkla is purchasing Shidler Telephone of Shidler, OK.

Dana Pierce, CEO, reflected on his 30 years at KanOkla by highlighting major accomplishments of the Association while he has been with the company. Mr. Pierce remembered back when KanOkla offered only plain old telephone service (POTS) to today’s cellular phones and wireless technology.

Jill Kuehny, CFO, reviewed the financial con-dition of the association as of December 31, 2016.

Candidates selected by the nominating committees were announced as follows: Harold LeValley, District Five (Bra-

man) and Kim Miller, District Eight (Caldwell/Renfrow). There were no nominations from the floor, so both were elected

by acclamation.

Hog Wild Bar-B-Q catered the meal and various gifts from the KanOk-la Tech Store were given as prizes throughout the meeting. The winners

were three members of the Strnad family, Trey, Sammie & Julia and Toni Wolff of Corbin; Alex Carathers, Vernon Hromas, and Rod Harsfield of South Haven; Annise Myers of Hardtner; Linda Bocox, Dennis Thurman, Nancy Countryman, and Sally McNees of Caldwell; Donna Fondren of Capron; and Jerry Johnson of Braman.

The three proposed bylaw changes presented by the KanOkla Board of Directors all passed.

Voting Results:

Cha�er

Brecken LawrenceWellington High School

Parents:Kevin & Lynne LawrenceKansas State University

Pediatrician

Caitlyn PrayPray Family HomeschoolParents: Todd & Linda PrayNorthwestern Oklahma St. UniversityMass Communications

Courtney LarsonArgonia High School

Parents: Todd & Shonda LarsonVernon College

Surgical TechnologyKeeley RoopCaldwell High SchoolParents: Aaron & Stacy RoopNorthern Oklahoma CollegeNursing Career

Callie BannisterWellington High School

Parents: DeAnne Oathout & Scott Bannister

Kansas State UniversityNeonatal Nurse

2017 KanOkla NetworksHigh School Scholarship Recipients

2017 KanOkla NetworksCollege Scholarship Recipients

BALANCE SHEET2016 2015

Current Assets 22,458,317$ 18,650,084$ Other Assets 24,987,675 23,948,908 Property, Plant, and Equipment (Net) 43,137,253 46,848,201

Total Assets 90,583,245 89,447,193

Current Liabilities 6,981,500 7,440,063 Other Liabilities and Deferred Credits 39,837 39,432 Long Term Debt 15,432,475 18,582,807

Total Liabilities 22,453,812 26,062,302

Member Equity 68,129,433 63,384,891

Total Liabilities and Member Equity 90,583,245 89,447,193

INCOME STATEMENT2016 2015

Telephone Network Services Revenue 13,602,398$ 12,664,295$ Sales 4,041,782 3,504,365 Miscellaneous Revenue 252,343 282,592

Total Operating Revenues 17,896,523 16,451,252

Telephone Operations Expense 5,137,108 5,062,142 Cost of Sales and Subsidiary Operations 5,412,396 5,311,514 Depreciation and Amortization 5,459,088 3,952,552

Total Operating Expenses 16,008,592 14,326,208

Operating Taxes (478,149) (417,006)

Operating Income 1,409,782 1,708,038

Non-operating Income 5,248,016 12,508,586 Interest on Long-Term Debt (649,189) (383,002)

Net Income 6,008,609$ 13,833,622$

KanOkla Financial PositionDecember 31, 2016

Hunter JordanParents: Kenneth & Anita JordanOklahoma State UniversityAgriculture: Plant & Soil Science

Kami NimitzParents: Jerry & Kim Nimitz

University of KansasDoctor of Pharmacy

Will MorelandParents: Matt & Lisa MorelandKansas State UniversityAg Technology Management

Tyann IsaacsParents: Tim & Robyn Isaacs

Friends UniversityHealth Management, Accounting

2017 KanOkla NetworksCollege Scholarship Recipients

Tiffany RiegerParents: Brad & Robbie RiegerOklahoma Wesleyan UniversityBiology Pre-med

Nicole EatonFort Hays State University

Elementary Education

Paige TurekParents: Tim & Jill TurekOklahoma State UniversityAgribusiness

KanOkla Networks Investing $12,000 to area

High School Seniors and College Students

Is it Smart to Have a Smart Home?

In the past, and today, we talk about ever-changing technology. Tech giants show off every day, the latest and greatest and why you need it gadgets. Now more than ever, smart gadgets are becoming more of a norm in houses, creating a “Smart House”. Is having a smart house a good thing? This month we will look at some of the pros and cons of having a smart home.

First and foremost, all smart homes are connected to the Internet. This needs to be a reliable connection with a decent data limit. If you have a KanOkla Fiber connection or our fixed wireless product, you have no worries, we offer Unlimited Data usage, unlike satellite or cell phone plans. The reason you need a decent data limit is the more smart devices/gadgets you connect to the Internet, the greater the data usage. To help with the decision of upgrading your house, here are some Pros to consider.

• Energy Efficiency – Now on the market are several automated thermostats for energy efficiency. These devices allow you to pre-program temperatures for different times of the day. Some adjust to your behaviors, learning and adapting to your tempera-ture preferences without any type of pre-selected schedule. Overall energy savings come down to what type of device you install and its automation capabilities.

• Convenience – Have you ever left the house in a hurry and realize the coffee pot is on or you left lights on? Many devices have remote access. This will allow you to turn off or on lights, appliances or adjust the temperature before arriving home. This saves time by not having to return home.

• Security – Gone on vacation and the house is dark? As mentioned, having remote access you can make it appear you are home. Also with IP cameras, you can view your house on your mobile device and record any intruders. Forgot the garage door was up, some openers have remote access that will notify you if it is left open.

Everyone knows, with pros you will also have cons. Here is a list of cons to consider.

• Installation – each device is different. Some are wireless, some are hard wired. Depending on the location this could cause you extra money to have it professionally installed. If you are the DIY type, then you could be looking at a longer install time.

• Complicated Technology – Recently more voice automated gadgets have come to market, making this con not so bothersome. But if your devices are not voice activated, is reaching for a Smartphone worth the trouble than the flip of a switch? Think about how far you want to take your home automation and will it really be convenient?

• System Harmony – One control center or software platform is important to home automation. Not all smart devices are compat-ible with each other. Each may have a different app to access for settings, causing time inefficiency. You might have to pay extra for the single platform.

• Pocket Book – Overall the general prices have come down on smart home technology. But you might have the cost of profession-al installation, the multiple costs of multiple devices, and any maintenance you might need after a self installation.

As you start to automate your home, be sure to decide what you want to achieve, conduct your research, budget, and shop around. KanOkla has or can get many smart home products and also provides installation. Stop in or give us a call with questions, we will be happy to help.

KanOkla Networks installs duct for Caldwell ball field

KanOkla’s plant construction crew installed over 1500 feet of duct for the Caldwell ball field, the men used KanOkla’s directional boring rig and also their Quad plow to accomplish this task of putting up new lights for the ball field. The Caldwell Recreation Association requested help in getting the new lighting system installed, so KanOkla Networks and others donated their time and material to this project. KanOkla’s cost of this commitment to the Rec Association was around $15,000.00 in billable time and materials.

Let’s Play Ball!!!!