April 2023 Newsletter
April 1, 2023
Hello All,
It’s newsletter time again. As usual there are a lot of things going on at Lone Star and days are busy for everyone. First, as I talked about in the Town Hall meeting today, Lone Star is realigning its companies to be more streamlined. A few years ago, we created Lone Star Communications Companies, a holding company, for the purpose of holding the ownership of all the Lone Star companies. Lone Star Communications, Inc., Lone Star Communications Houston, Lone Star Communications Central Texas, and Lone Star Communications Arkansas are all under Lone Star Communications Companies now for the purpose of keeping all the companies together in a single entity. Lone Star Communications Companies also holds our investments in CareSight, IOW, and Interop Wizard, as well as our investments in several other partners. One place for everything Lone Star.
Moving Lone Star Forward
Now that we have finished this consolidation, it makes sense to centralize the management and the reporting structure of the company. Effective immediately, Dan Hiett has been promoted to the position of COO of Lone Star Communications Companies, and Victor Gonzalez to the position of Assistant COO for LSCC as well. The regional position of COO will change over time to Divisional Manager or similar but will remain for now. Also, the Directors of Operations, Service, and Engineering will now report directly to Victor and up to Dan to further centralize all operations throughout the company. Dan and Victor have effectively taken over all operational control of the company short of finance which will remain with me for now. This is a big change to Lone Star and I congratulate Dan and Victor for the big step. Dan has big plans for the company which are underway with the summit meetings planned over the next few months. This is a timely change that will allow me to concentrate on the future of Lone Star and its companies.
Tenure Recognition Dinners
In the past, we have had tenure recognition at our company update meetings but since we have become so spread out throughout Texas and Arkansas, it has become necessary to change that to regional events. A couple of years ago we began having dinner with the employees celebrating their 5, 10, 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-year anniversaries. This year Dan Hiett and Victor are accompanying me to these dinners. We started in Grand Prairie recognizing 11 employees. We had dinner at Ferrari’s Italian Villa & Chop House in Grapevine. The dinner was excellent and the conversation great. We told stories and talked about the old times. It was a great night, and we all laughed a lot.
5-Year – Travis Alvarado
10-Year – Adrian Castaneda
15-Year – Michelle Harris, Terrence Allison,
20-Year – Carlos Flores, Michael Lee, Eric Snyder, Mickey Longoria, Keith Cunningham
25-Year – Jason Chatham, Dan Murphy
30-Year – John Borden
Night two was Dinner at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Little Rock Arkansas. Again, the dinner was excellent, and we had the award recipients tell stories of the times of the past. There were some interesting stories, and we had a number of good laughs. There were 7 employees Tuesday with Melinda Gibbs in the 20-year category.
5-Year – Stu (Michael) Best, Jay Ownbey, Kellie Cockrell, Dennis (Calvin) Bledsoe, Christopher Beaird
10-Year – Donna Smith
20-Year –Melinda Gibbs
Wednesday night we went to Georgetown to celebrate Central Texas. We had dinner at Wildfire restaurant and we had a great time with Stephen Spangler who received his 20-year recognition award. All the employees told their favorite memories and talked about where they want to be in another 5 years. It was an excellent night and we laughed for hours with these guys.
5-Year – Jakob Garcia, Austin Garcia
10-Year – Chris Russell
25-Year – Steven Spangler
Our final night is tonight after the newsletter is published, but I know it will be great fun too. We are meeting at Killen’s Steak House in Pearland Texas. We have 5 employees tonight, but, in addition, we will be recognizing Jackson Cole for 10 years even though he retired in January of this year. Jackson was a big part of the company, and we miss him already. Roberto Lopez has been with the company for 25 years and he will be recognized with his Eagle Award. I am looking forward to seeing everyone tonight!
5-Year – Javier Solis
10-Year – Jackson Cole, Violeta Soria
15-Year – Gabe Sanchez, Gus Torres
25-Year – Roberto Lopez
As I have said many times in the past, these meetings and recognition awards are one of my favorite times. I am humbled by those of you that have been with Lone Star for so many years. I am amazed at how many employees have been here half their life or more and appreciate their commitment to Lone Star. I know it is because of each and every one of you that makes Lone Star Communications what it is. We are a great company because of you, and I and the rest of the Lone Star Communications staff really appreciate you being here. Thank you for all you do for Lone Star Communications!
Until next time, Ray
President
Comments