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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 2012)
Spilygy Tyrnoo, Wgrm Springs, Oregon Pgge 7 December 26, 2012 Changing management at W.S. Telecom A fte r many years o f provid ing leadership in the planning, funding, climbing all the regu latory hurdles and finally con structing and installing the equipment at Warm Springs Telecom, Adam Haas is step ping down from his role as interim general manager. Operations manager Jose Matanane has been prom oted to W arm S prings, T elecom G eneral Manger beginning in January. W ith nearly 400 custom ers, and m ost o f the technol ogy hurdles o f the new com pany resolved, this transition will enable Haas to return to his role as independent tele com m unications consultant to the tribes, with Matanane moving into a position he held previously for 14 years at Ft. M ojave T elecom , an o th e r tribally owned telecom com pany, located in the South west. For m ore than 11 years, H aas has w orked w ith the tribes to update and improve telecommunications services on the R eservation. Tribal leadership realized the grow ing disparity between the tele communications available on the reservation compared to services in other parts o f the country. Telecommunications ca- pability was becoming criti cal for personal, economic, educational and other areas o f life im p o rta n t to th e people o f the Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs. After an initial Needs A s sessment and a follow up stra tegic plan, Adam and his busi- n ess p a rtn e r, M arsha Spellman, have continued to w ork with the tribes to up grade basic telephone, broad-' b and In te rn e t and public safety radio. Warm Springs Telecom is now a fully functioning tele com m unications operation and the ninth tribally owned te lep h o n e and b ro a d b an d I n te r n e t c o m p an y in th e United States. This past O ctober, WST received the Oregon Connec tions Award for Excellence in Telecom m unications, from Dave McMechan/Spilyay Adam Haas congratulates Jose Matanane, who is taking over the Telecom general manager. the State o f Oregon. It has also been honored by the fed eral R ural U tility S ervice (RUS). with a story-and pic tu re o f th e trib e s o n its w ebsite and posters in the halls o f the federal building in Washington, DC. “With tribal leadership pro vided by L onny Macy, Sal Sahme, D an Martinez, D on C ourtney, Aurolyn. Stwyer and others, we have created th e n in th trib ally o w n ed telecom in the country,” Haas said. “W arm Springs tribal m em bers should feel proud o f this accomplishment.” Planned change N ow that the company is up and ru n n in g , an d w ith m ost o f the technology kinks resolved, A dam is handing the reins o f leadership to Jose M atanane, w ho-.m oved to Warm “Springs in April 2011, to be the operations manager o f this new company. A d am ex p lain ed th a t, “This .may seem like a sur prise to some, but this transi tio n p lan has b een in the Works for quite some time.” Jose was responsible for overseeing and managing the creation o f the WSTC net work, with the difficulties that come with building a brand new company, as well as the very difficult geography and large service area. “Jose, who began his ca reer in telecom m unications working in the outside plant side o f the business, has done an am azing job overseeing the build out o f this very so phisticated netw ork,” Hass c o n tin u e d . “Jo s e o fte n worked day and night to re solve problem s and ensure that the network that the new company installed is sound and able to provide top-notch service.” Jose spent 14 years as the g e n e ra l m an ag e r o f F t. M ojave T elecom , a n o th e r tribally owned telecom com pany. W ith his background, Jose agreed to move to O r egon with his wife and two young children, and leave his position as general manager at. Ft. Mojave to become the 'operations manager at Warm Springs Telecom. Adam and Warm Springs Ventures chief executive of ficer Je ff Anspach had ap proached Jose with the idea th at after the netw ork was developed, Jose w ould then move up to the position as General Manager. A ccording to Haas, “We built an amazingly sophisti c a te d n e tw o rk in W arm Springs, one that faced many . technology challenges in or der to bring phone and broad band to the reservation. Jose did a heroic job overseeing the installation and construc tion o f the network. I be lieve that with all o f our ac complishments to date, now is the right time for m e to step down as interim general m anager and to hand over the reins to Jose Matanane. I c a n ’t th in k o f a m o re qualified individual than Jose to lead the company into its next phase o f success: N o t only does he have all the ex perience we hoped to find in a person to run this company, he’s one heck o f a nice guy.” Jose explained, “W hen I m o v ed my fam ily h ere to Oregon more than a year ago, I knew I was taking a risk. But I also have seen how a tribally owned telecommuni catio n s co m p an y can im prove the lives o f tribal mem bers and I believed this was possible for Warm Springs. “In little more than a year, that dream is being realized,” Jose continued. “I,very much appreciate the vote o f confi dence from Je ff Anspach and the W arm Springs Telecom B oard o f D irecto rs and I lo o k fo rw ard to w o rk in g closely w ith o u r excellent staff to bring high quality phone and internet service to everyone on the reservation.” Adam and business part n er M arsha Spellm an, JD , owners o f Converge C om munications, a nationally rec ognized telecommunications consulting company, will con tinue to work closely with J ose and the WST team. M arsha will continue to provide Regulatory oversight to ensure'compliance as well as representing the company at the FCC and Oregon Pub lic Utility Commission, work ing on various proceedings that im pact WST. Adam will be involved in future projects for WST, in cluding the potential for tele vision on the reservation and potential economic develop m ent projects that are natu ral outgrowths o f the com pany. . Oregon State begins solar power project (AP) — Oregon State Uni versity will begin generating its own solar power in Janu ary. T he university, in conjunc tio n w ith SolarW orld and SolarCity, is close to complet ing the installation o f solar panels at two sites that will be cap ab le o f p ro d u c in g 860,000 k ilo w a tt-h o u rs a year. T hat m uch pow er is the equivalent o f reducing the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 66,000 gallons o f gasoline. T he panels are being set up o n fo u r acres o f O SU land adjacent to TrystingTree G o lf Club and east o f the Benton County Fairgrounds near Southwest 53rd Street. SolarWorld supplied more than 3,000 high-performance solar panels. SolarCity in stalled, owns, maintains and operates the equipment. OSU w ill b u y th e p o w e r fro m SolarCity at a rate that is “a litde bit m ore than half” o f what the university pays Pa cific Power, according to uni versity sustainability coordi nator Brandon Trelstad. “Energy efficiency is still a top priority, but solar power will play an increasingly key role in reducing our green house gas emissions,” Trelstad said. “There is no way OSU can invest in renewable en ergy in fra stru ctu re at this scale without developing pub lic-private partnerships.” The OSU project is one o f five renewable energy dem onstration projects coordi nated by the O regon Univer sity System. OSU's project, which is the first one to be completed, will expand to 10 acres by the fall o f 2013 and will provide from 3 to 5 per cent o f OSU’s power needs, Trelstad said. The installation is all but complete, with final work tak ing place this week. A fter in spections from Linn County and B enton County officials the university will apply for “final connection” with Pacific Power. There is no firm date for the project to begin produc ing power, b ut Trelstad said that early January was likely. The panels will be capable o f p ro d u c in g p o w e r a t full strength on day one. “The capacity will be ready as soon as full sun hits the arrays,” said Trelstad. “B ut we might have to w ait for a sum m er day to get the full benefit.” T relstad, w ho has been sustainability coordinator at OSU since 2005, has been involved with the project for m ore than four years. M ost o f that time has been spent on financial arrangem ents. C onstruction did n o t begin until last summer. Initial plans with a differ ent solar developer collapsed amid the economic downturn o f 2008-09. “ We needed a more-expe rienced and bigger partner,” said Trelstad. “SolarCity had the experience and size to do this.” “SolarCity is proud to play a part in O regon State’s am bitious efforts to produce and co n su m e cleaner energy,” said Rob Lavigne, SolarCity regional vice president. “T h e u n iv ersity is also showing its students how in stitutions can rise above the status quo and take a leader ship role in addressing the w orld’s m ost pressing chal lenges.” Students stand to benefit from the prqject as well. The university has an internship agreement with SolarCity, and Trelstad said that students in energy-related program s at b oth the Corvallis and Bend campuses also might get in volved in the project. “There are quite a few dif feren t o p p o rtu n ities,” said T relstad . “W e’re g o in g to w ork on this for the fall.” In his role o f telecommu nications consultant to the Tribes, he will also focus on implementing the homeland security grants that the Tribes have been awarded, which will help build more towers and im prove public safety com munications in the N orth end o f the reservation, as well as Seekseequa. The W arm Springs Tele communications Company is a tribally chartered enterprise whose mission is to bring ad vanced broadband services to the Warm Springs tribes, in cluding voice, data and video. What Telecom has accomplished so far As Adam Haas steps down as interim general manager, and Jose Matanane fills his shoes, here is a little synopsis o f w h at has b een accom plished in the last few years, as W arm Springs Telecom has grown from a seed o f an idea, to a fully functioning company. The W arm S prings Telecom is still a new com pany, and will continue to grow and expand its footprint to provide service to every p a rt o f th e re s e rv a tio n . H ow ever, it is im pressive what has been accomplished to this point. 1. Form ed the company to include co rp o ratio n status and by-laws. 2. Received all necessary regulatory approvals from the state and federal agencies in cluding the Eligible Telecom Carrier (ETC) status enabling qualified tribal m em bers to get L ifeline su p p o rt (tele phone service for $11 month), and W ST receives O regon Universal Service Funds. 3. Received initial planning funding and the Broadband Stimulus ARRA aw ard for $5.6 million. ■ 4. Hired a great staff with m o stly trib a l re s e rv a tio n members. 5. Built out the Customer Service Center. 6. Integrated the Central Office into the new building, w ith so p h istic a te d , h i-tec equipment. 7. Expanded the fiber op tic netw ork to sites around the Reservation. 8. Im proved connectivity to the outside world. 9. Provided redundancy by having two providers for internet access. 10. Have nearly 400 cus tom er phone lines connected via our fixed-wireless to the home network. 11. Have 281 Internet cus to m e rs c o n n e c te d to o u r fixed-wireless network, includ ing K ah N ee Ta resort. 12. H ooked up the VFW H all w ith b o th ph o n e and internet service. 13. Have key large custom ers connected via fiber, in cluding: • Indian H ead Casino for both Internet and Phone Ser vice • Warm Springs Ventures for internet and Phone Ser vice • Tribal Administration for Internet Service 14. OSU E xtension O f fice /E ducation D epartm ent for Internet service. 15. Providing phone and internet services to the Senior Center and to businesses in the Plaza including Skyn Style and Blue Sky Market. 16. We will also be the tele phone provider for th e new Community Counseling Cen ter when it opens next year. Upcoming Still to be accomplished: ' ■ Continue to build-out fi ber network and new towers throughout the Reservation, • Provide additional ser vice to Seekseequa, Simnasho and Sidwalter; and, • Increase product offer ing to customers. FDA: fast-growing fish would not harm nature W A SH IN G T O N (AP) _ Federal health regulators say a g en etically e n g in e e re d salmon that grows twice as fast as norm al is unlikely to harm the environment, clear ing the way for the first ap proval o f a genetically engi n eered anim al fo r h u m an consumption. T he Food and . D rug Ad m inistration on Friday re leased its environmental as se s sm e n t of th e A quaA dvantage salm on, a faster-growing fish which has been subject to a contentious, y e a rs lo n g d e b a te a t th e agency. The docum ent con cludes that the fish ' 'will not have any significant impacts on the quality o f the human environm ent o f the United States." Regulators also said th at th e fish is unlikely to harm populations o f natural salm on, a key concern for environmental activists. T he FDA will take com ments from the public on its re p o rt for 60 days befo re making it final. The FDA said m ore than two years ago that the fish appears to be safe to eat, but the agency had taken no pub lic action since then. Execu tives for the company behind th e fish, M aynard, M ass.- based A quabounty, specu lated that the government was delaying action, on their ap plication due to push-back from groups w ho oppose ge netically modified food ani mals. E xperts view the release o f the environmental report as the final step before ap proval. I f FD A regulators clear the salmon, as expected, it would be the first scientifically altered animal approved for food anywhere in the world. Critics call the m odified salmon a"frankenfish." They worry that it could cause hu m an allergies and the even tual decimation o f the natu ral salm on population if it escapes and breeds in the wild. A q uaB ounty has m ain tained that the fish is safe and that there are several safe guards against environmental problems.
