You might wonder if TCC is truly a local company. So many companies that appear to be local have some underlying entity in some other state (or country) that has influence over, or receives profits from, those companies. Is it this way with TCC or not?
We can happily say that we are a 100% local company. Our offices, our tech center, our warehouse, and our switch stations are in our serving area. We do not have some corporate office outside of our area. Our owners are all of the members of our cooperative. To be a member, you must have service in our serving area. We have a board of directors that helps guide the direction of the cooperative, and they are also members of the cooperative and are voted to be on the board of directors by the members in their districts.
Not only is our company and its direction, control, and revenues kept local, we even do our best to support local businesses whenever possible.
And because we are member-owned, we won’t be bought out by some larger entity and put under their control, or have the power to make changes that do not agree with our Cooperative Bylaws, the Board of Directors, and/or the membership.
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WHAT ARE CAPITAL CREDITS FROM TCC?
Capital credits are monies due to the members, based on their patronage, when the cooperative has revenues that exceed expenses and a prudent reserve. This is a common principle of cooperatives, as they are owned by the members, not some single person or investor group. So, when the cooperative has excess revenues, they are returned to the members, like stock distributions to a fortune 500 company investor. In order to make sure the cooperative stays financially sound, the cooperative uses and invests the money from members for a time before returning it to the members. Currently we are on a 10-year cycle, first-in-first-out. This means that the cooperative would have used and invested money received for 10 years before starting capital credit distributions. The ones who’ve been in the longest get their distributions first. This cycle helps the cooperative become financially stable, to secure its future, yet return excess funds back to its owners in time.
Read more about capital credits
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HOW DO WE SUPPORT THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES?
We are very involved with the communities we serve through the network services we provide, events we sponsor, schools and businesses we partner with, community education we offer, and other uses of our time and resources. In 2022, we supported over 100 local events and entities. Our employees help with a lot of events — for TCC or on their own!
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WHY SHOULD I SIGN UP WITH TCC?
We strive to be a company that offers the best services we can, at the most affordable rates we can, while supporting the communities in our serving area the best we can. We are not the only company in the world that does this, but we feel we do an exceptional job meeting these ideals.
TCC has always offered services over the strongest, best built network available. We cover a large, rural area, and rely on long connection points between towns and customers, which makes providing top-notch service a little more difficult, as there are more places where problems can affect services. A solid network and a more conservative approach to the bandwidth we offer is a responsible step to providing more reliable services.
As a cooperative, you are a member-owner. Your money stays in the community and excess revenues beyond costs and a prudent reserve are returned to the members. These are called Capital Credits. Another benefit of being a member-owner is that you get to vote for a director to represent your district in the direction of the cooperative.
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