MINOT, N.D. – Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery, 10 miles south of Butte, was recently able to replace fencing along the north and west sides of the cemetery, thanks to funding from a Rural Development Finance Corporation (RDFC) grant matched by SRT Communications.

RDFC awarded a $750 grant to Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery in 2023, which SRT matched with an additional $750. An old wooden fence has been replaced with PVC and fiberglass posts and chain-link fencing.

The cemetery, established in 1906, is cared for by a group of volunteers. The sexton, Dennis Schott of Butte, maintains the grounds with help from his wife, Lois, Tom and Lena Volochenko, Lyle Zinke and his father, Harold, and Dewey Helm. According to Schott, anyone can be buried at the cemetery. Currently, plot reservations are not needed.

Schott said, “My grandparents are buried here. It’s important to have a well-kept resting place for people in our area.”

Volunteer Tom Volochenko added that his grandparents are also buried at the cemetery, along with many other generations of families from the Butte community.

SRT is among the North Dakota rural telecommunication and electric cooperatives that are members of RDFC. A nonprofit finance and development corporation, RDFC provides funding for economic development and diversification projects in rural North Dakota. Applications are submitted to RDFC via SRT; if approved, funds are then matched 100% by SRT.

SRT Communications, headquartered in Minot, North Dakota, is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative. Established in 1951, SRT employs roughly 180 people and serves more than 24,000 customers across north central North Dakota. SRT earned the distinction as a Certified Gig-Capable Provider in 2017. Services include high-speed internet, phone, and security/surveillance systems for home and business. Learn more at www.srt.com.

The Rural Development Finance Corporation (RDFC) is a nonprofit corporation that encourages economic diversification and community vitality through the generation of funding that supports sustainable asset building. Funding for RDFC programs comes from fee income generated by Dakotas America LLC, a community development entity providing New Market Tax Credits in economically distressed census tracks across the United States. The North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives provides support to RDFC.

MINOT, N.D. – SRT Communications will hold its annual meeting and director election on Thursday, June 20, 2024, at the North Dakota State Fair Center in Minot.

Registration and voting begin at 5:30 p.m. and officially close at 7:00 p.m. A catered dinner will be served 5:30-7:00 p.m. and live entertainment featuring Little Chicago Funk will begin at 6:00 p.m.

The business meeting, which starts at 7:00 p.m., will include a report to the members, financial updates, and election results.

Candidates for election are the following:

District 1:   Cheryl Overby from Mohall
District 2:   Dennis Erber from Glenburn, Incumbent
District 3:   Bruce Degenstein from Voltaire
                       Faith Fahnestock from Towner/Willow City
                       Shawn Vedaa from Voltaire
District 4:   Stacey Diehl from Minot, Incumbent
                       Deven Mantz from Minot

Election results will also be posted on srt.com/annualmeeting.

Members are encouraged to bring the postcard they received in the mail to be entered to win prizes.

The SRT Board of Directors has approved the distribution of $2,911,487 in credits back to members for 2024.

Credits will include the remainder of the 2000 allocation and/or a portion of the 2001 and 2023 allocations. Checks mail in early June.

“Capital credits are one of the great advantages of belonging to a cooperative,” said Kristi Miller, SRT Board President. “Our members share in our success and SRT values the opportunity to distribute profits back to them.”

How SRT Capital Credits Work

1. At the end of the fiscal year, SRT determines whether there are excess revenues, called margins.
2. The margins are allocated to members as capital credits based on the amount spent by the member during the year.
3. The Board of Directors decides to retire, or pay, the capital credits when the cooperative’s financial condition allows.
4. Members are notified how and when they will receive their capital credit distribution.

Members should inform SRT of changes to their current mailing address to ensure they receive any future capital credit retirements.

For more information on capital credits, visit srt.com/capitalcredits or call 701-858-1200.

SRT Communications, headquartered in Minot, North Dakota, is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative. Established in 1951, SRT employs roughly 180 people and serves 24,000 customers across north-central North Dakota. SRT earned the distinction as a Certified Gig-Capable Provider in 2017. Services include high-speed internet, phone, and security/surveillance systems for home and business. Learn more at www.SRT.com.

MINOT, N.D. – SRT has announced the 2024 winners of five college scholarships, totaling $8,500, and two students who will attend the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) Youth Tour.

The following four students each won a $1,500 SRT General Scholarship:

• Lucas Beeter of Minot – Minot High School – Magic City Campus
• Tallie Fedje of Bottineau – Bottineau Junior-Senior High School
• Shaylie Holen of Burlington – Des Lacs Burlington High School
• Mariah Lovro of Norwich – TGU Granville High School

Jamie Thompson of Antler won the $2,500 SRT Technical Scholarship. She will be attending Bismarck State College and will major in agriculture industry and technology (agronomy).

“This year we had a very competitive field of scholarship applicants,” said Cassidy Hjelmstad, SRT CEO and General Manager. “It was inspiring to see so many promising, hard-working young people pursuing their future through our scholarship program, and these five students truly earned their respective awards.”

In addition, Giovanna Zettell and Carmen Lindekugel, both of Newburg School, will represent SRT during the 2024 FRS Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. this summer. They will learn about the telecommunications industry, tour the nation’s capital, and meet with legislative leaders to discuss their experiences in rural North Dakota.

Applicants for the SRT Scholarship Program were judged on their scholastic performance and achievements, as well as volunteerism and community involvement. Students were required to write an essay discussing the value of traditional education, online education, and the vital role of high-speed internet in both.

The SRT Technical Scholarship can be awarded to a graduating high school senior or an undergraduate student currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year college. Applicants were required to submit volunteerism and community involvement, scholastic performance, and an essay describing how they can use their education and technology to reach rural and underserved populations. A letter of recommendation from a community member or educator was also required.

SRT Communications, headquartered in Minot, North Dakota, is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative. Established in 1951, SRT employs roughly 180 people and serves 24,000 customers across north-central North Dakota. SRT earned the distinction as a Certified Gig-Capable Provider in 2017. Services include high-speed internet, phone, and security/surveillance systems for home and business. Learn more at www.SRT.com.

MINOT, N.D. – NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association recognized Shawn Grosz, SRT Chief Technology Officer, with the 2023 Excellence Award in Innovation.

The award was presented to Grosz during the NTCA Rural Telecom Industry Meeting & EXPO (RTIME) in February. Grosz earned the Innovation Award for his transformative work on 911 services in North Dakota.

SRT was the pilot telecommunications company involved in deploying North Dakota’s first end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) 911 service in support of the state’s transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911). The North Dakota Association of Counties (NDACo), Dakota Carrier Network (DCN), and SRT collaborated to deliver end-to-end 911 calls from SRT subscribers to seven 911 call centers – known as Public Safety Answering Points or PSAPs.

“Not only does Shawn’s work on the 911 deployment benefit SRT’s subscribers; it’s the blueprint for replicating improved services for all North Dakotans as IP-based 911 is deployed statewide,” said Cassidy Hjelmstad, SRT CEO/General Manager. “That’s an outsized impact for community good, and one example in Shawn’s accomplished career of why he is valued and revered as a telecommunications champion across our industry.”

Leading SRT’s role in the project, Grosz collaborated with statewide partners and brought the telecommunications company perspective to discussions about IP-based 911 network design.

“Collaboration was key to our success with the Next Generation 911 initiative. I am grateful to NDACo, DCN, and DCN’s other member owners, for their partnership and shared common goal for the people of North Dakota,” said Grosz. He added, “We also could not have fulfilled our role as the pilot telecommunications company without SRT’s exceptional engineering and operations staff, who worked diligently to make this critical service available to our members and first responders.”

The faster, more flexible and efficient NG911 system offers benefits to callers and first responders alike. Callers can get help quickly from any device at any time, and first responders can share life-saving information instantly.

Grosz joined SRT in 1997 and has been SRT’s Chief Technology Officer for the last 10 years. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Minot State University. Grosz serves on NTCA’s Technical Committee and DCN’s Technical Committee, and routinely speaks in leadership groups and public forums about cybersecurity, streaming technology, and the future of broadband.

The NTCA Excellence Awards recognize broadband providers who have exceeded expectations to support their customers and community members and to advance communications services in rural America. Winners are selected by the association’s Awards Committee comprising NTCA members.

SRT Communications, headquartered in Minot, North Dakota, is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative. Established in 1951, SRT employs nearly 190 people and serves roughly 8,000 square miles and 24,000 customers across north central North Dakota. SRT earned the distinction as a Certified Gig-Capable Provider in 2017. Services include high-speed internet, phone, and security/surveillance systems for home and business. Learn more at www.srt.com.

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing over 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovative change in smart rural communities across America. In an era of transformative technological developments, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are advancing efforts to close the digital divide by delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks. Their commitment to building sustainable networks makes rural communities fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit www.ntca.org. 

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