The mission of SkyLine is to provide state-of-art communications and technology solutions enabled by a culture of excellence in customer service.
2015 INTERACTIVE ANNUAL MEETING REPORT
At SkyLine Membership Corporation, we are focused and fully committed to providing the best-in-class telecommunications services in the High Country.
We have an unwavering commitment to doing what’s right for our members and customers.
The Mission Statement isn’t just words written on paper that our employees strive to attain, it’s who we are as individuals, as a company…
VOICE & INTERNET SERVICES
SKYLINE & SKYBEST COMBINED
NC TELEPHONE COOPERATIVES TOTAL ACCESS LINES
AS OF 6/30/2015
HIGHLIGHTS OF OPERATION
Above: Lees-McRae May School of Nursing and Health Sciences
SkyLine’s Brent Keith worked with Vice President of Finance and Business Affairs Suzette Fronk to address a variety of communications-related needs.
To offer the latest in telecommunications services to businesses large and small, it takes a state-of-the-art network as well as a trusted partner in developing solutions that best fit the current and future needs of the customer.
For Lees-McRae College, SkyLine’s Brent Keith worked in close partnership with the college’s Vice President of Finance and Business Affairs Suzette Fronk to solve a variety of communications–related needs.
We look forward to helping LMC grow and succeed in the future by providing them the consistent customer service and support they need to accomplish their mission.
Above: Solid Rock Food Closet – Loading bags of groceries.
SkyLine’s Karin Nichols with Solid Rock’s David Carpenter and Teresa March.
In conjunction with National Cooperative Month, SkyLine organized its first systemwide food drive initiative last fall to help local efforts to fight hunger, as one in six adults and one in four children across the region lack access to sufficient food to meet their nutritional needs.
“When we suggested a breakfast food drive to area food pantries, they told us that these items were actually among the most needed but in shortest supply on their shelves,” said SkyLine PR Administrator Karen Powell. “This affirmed for us that breakfast needed to be our focus.”
Many of those folks who gave so generously, could have used help themselves.
Above: Appalachian State University – Transportation Insight Center for Entrepreneurship.
Edward Hinson at the Center for Entrepreneurship with Managing Director Erich Schlenker.
WITH THE MOST EXTENSIVE FIBER DEPLOYMENT IN THE HIGH COUNTRY, SKYLINE IS AMONG THE FIRST OF A LIMITED NUMBER OF COMPANIES NATIONWIDE TO OFFER GIG SERVICES.
Equal to 1,000 Mbps (megabits per second), Gigabit service is 100 times faster than what’s currently available in many U.S. households.
With our network, this region is ripe for opportunity—the key is making connections and working collaboratively.
Above: SkyLine NOC helps to quicken response times by linking to SkyLine’s new network fleet GPS system.
NOC Technician Randy Neaves and Robbie Farmer monitor network activity inside the Network Operations Center (NOC).
Historically, SkyLine is known as a forward-looking company—closely attuned to delivering the latest, affordable technology services to its members and customers so it continues to take bold steps in its network investment.
With technology as a major driver, SkyLine’s Robbie Farmer, who oversees network engineering, says his staff is always thinking ahead and planning for the future. “Everything we do every day revolves around broadband, and in our industry, change is constant. In the engineering group, the bar is set high by the nature of what we do and how quickly technology evolves – we are never satisfied.”
The bar is set high, and with quickly evolving technology – we are never satisfied.
SkyLine Membership Corporation Board of Directors
Standing left to right: Jerry Roten, Raymond Parker, Attorney; Molly Gambill, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer; Tommy Joe Ward, Bill Burleson, Olan Bentley.
Seated left to right: Jimmy Blevins, CEO; Joseph McNeil, Vice President; R.C. Mitchell, President; James L. Shepherd, Secretary; D.C. Smith, Treasurer.
SkyBest Communications, Inc. Board of Directors
Standing left to right: Raymond Parker, Attorney; Sharon Kasel; R.C. Mitchell, Assistant Secretary; James L. Shepherd, Chairman.
Seated left to right: Haskell McGuire, Secretary; Jimmy Blevins, President; Dennis Gambill, Vice President; Joseph McNeil, Treasurer.
SkyLine Membership Corporation
SkyLine Membership Corporation is a local, member-owned cooperative, established in 1951 to bring telephone service to rural residents of Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties. Later, the cooperative expanded its service territory to include areas of Avery County and Shady Valley, Tennessee when it merged with Cherokee Telephone Membership Corporation. SkyLine serves a 12-exchange network with nearly 29,000 access lines across a five-county area in northwest North Carolina and east Tennessee. The company has a wholly-owned subsidiary, SkyBest Communications, Inc., and it also co-owns Carolina West Wireless, a regional wireless carrier operating in 10 northwest North Carolina counties.
SkyBest Communications, Inc.
SkyBest Communications, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SkyLine Membership Corporation. Established in 1998, SkyBest is a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), offering a variety of deregulated services including dial-up and broadband Internet, voice and long-distance services, business and network solutions, SkyBest Security, video surveillance, automation and SkyBest TV over an expanding fiber network. In 2014, SkyBest established a subsidiary, The Video Exchange, to serve as a source for video content for TV station operators and channel owners across the U.S.
How our dollars are spent
Total: $43,249,193
Maintenance: $14,272,078 / 33.00%
Depreciation: $8,505,395 / 19.67%
Member Ownership: $8,860,982 / 20.48%
Customer/Corporate Operations: $11,221,159 / 25.95%
Federal & State Taxes: $85,112 / 0.20%
Interest on Debt: $304,467 / 0.70%
How our dollars are received
Total: $43,249,193
Local Service: $8,123,178 / 18.78%
Toll/Access: $13,010,456 / 30.08%
Bad Debt Expense: ($242,791) / -0.56%
Other Sales & Service Income: $16,256,080 / 37.59%
Miscellaneous: $2,111,649 / 4.88%
Non-Operating Revenue: $3,990,621 / 9.23%
FINANCIALS
Download a PDF of our Financial Section
Above – From Left to Right: Tim Watson, Scott Hughes, Angie Miller, Phillip May, Karen Powell, Kirk Houck, Amber Osborne.
Service and dedication. Our employees raise the bar to give us a competitive edge.
SkyLine and community go hand in hand. Known for making connections — from offering the latest in technology and services to investing in the future through education and outreach — it is here where we come together to make our communities a better place today and tomorrow.
Scholarship
Now in its 28th year, the Frank James-SkyLine Scholarship is presented annually to children of SkyLine/SkyBest customers. Selection is based on academics, financial need, and school and community involvement.
FRS Youth Tour
Kacey Caudill (pictured) and Leah McGrady represented SkyLine at the Foundation for Rural Service Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. They experienced a close-up view of our nation’s capital, including visits to numerous landmarks, and they learned about the vital role of telecommunications in rural communities.
Cooperative Leadership Opportunities
This summer, six area high school students attended Cooperative Leadership Camp at White Lake to build leadership skills while learning about the role of cooperatives. Former camper and NICE attendee Deannh Milhalhe also returned as a junior counselor at this summer’s program. From this impressive group of attendees, Morgan Church, Madison Shepherd and Quentin Wellington of Ashe County were chosen to attend the national cooperative conference at Virginia Tech in July.
LMC Summer Theater
SkyLine continued its support of Lees-McRae’s popular Summer Theatre program, serving as the presenting corporate sponsor of the season’s show, “Oliver.” The season also featured “Lend Me a Tenor” and “The Denim King: The Story of Moses Cone,” based on the book by LMC Summer Theatre’s Artistic Director, Dr. Janet Barton Speer.
An Appalachian Summer Festival
SkyBest Communications was among the corporate sponsors of An Appalachian Summer Festival, which has grown to become one of the nation’s largest regional multi-arts festivals. This year, the Festival’s Popular Series events included performances by the Beach Boys, David Grisman and Brian Stokes Mitchell with the Winston-Salem Symphony.
Christmas Charities
Employees make Christmas brighter for the young and elderly in Ashe County through Interagency Christmas Project and Appalachian Senior Programs’ Project Star. Employees also help individual families in area counties with gifts, heating assistance and other needs.
American Heart Association
Working to raise awareness and support for the American Heart Association, SkyLine provides the phone bank at the annual Ashe Heart Auction. Also at this year’s Heart Walk, fellow employees joined Angie Miller’s family team in memory of her brother Ricky Goodman and father Doug Goodman, whose lives were lost prematurely to heart disease.
Project Teamwork
Project Teamwork is our employee-led community outreach program, which provides financial relief to area families during times of crisis. Since 1997, this program has contributed more than $125,000 to help our neighbors across the region.
Directory Drive & Recycling
Now in its 23rd year, SkyLine’s Directory Collection Drive collects thousands of old directories with the help of 17 area public schools. For their part, schools receive a quarter for each old directory they collect.
Technology Grants
SkyLine’s Technology Education Grant Program continues to partner with area public schools to ensure that students have access to technology. Since 2006, nearly $500,000 in grants have been awarded to five county school systems, ranging from acquiring new devices and SMART-related equipment for classrooms to supporting one-to-one initiatives that pair devices and connectivity to students who don’t have Internet access at home.