TRI STATE TOWER TRI STATE TOWER

Tri State Tower GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND “Going above and beyond” has always been the guiding maybe sell them on inspecting the steel, that sort of thing.” ethos of Tri State Tower, the Marion, -based company that As Ellison’s network of small-town grain elevators and radio was founded by Rick Ellison in 1991, and today has grown communication towers grew, so did the telecommunications into one of the premier wireless and telecommunications and wireless industry. “The first large contract Rick was ever companies in the Midwest. “The business began with painting awarded was with Motorola, and from there it just kept evolv- radio communication towers,” says Diek Brunscheen, company ing,” Brunscheen relates. “But Rick never turned his back on COO. “Whenever Rick was out, going from one painting job to the two-way companies or the broadcast stations. So, Tri State another, he would travel through small towns with grain oper- has always had a diverse clientele base. When there were slow ators. He would stop in the office and drop off a business card, pockets of work on the wireless side, there was always the TRI STATE TOWER

two-way broadcast work and the don’t work for just anybody,” he says. “We try and work for people tower inspections. Those types who have the same type of values that Tri State Tower has. We of connections always helped Tri focus on people who are going to have a relationship with us and State fill the void and made it a get to know us and know what we’re about.” pretty successful operation.” Hagstrom says that the company’s field teams will often do “When Rick founded Tri State extra work for their long-term clients, whether it’s checking fire ex- Tower in the early ’90s, he was tinguishers and first aid kits, or checking anchors for rust. “By doing driving a late 1980s Buick Skylark so, we’re creating value for the customer,” he explains. “We’re trying around from tower to tower,” says to make sure that they’re getting the most for their money. We live Pete Hagstrom, the company’s Vice by the culture of doing things without being asked; doing the right President for Business Develop- thing, even if no one is looking. We’re going to leave the site better ment. “We currently have over than it was when we showed up.” fifty trucks, trailers, and special That type of attention to its clients also helps the company equipment in our fleet. It’s pretty garner new business. “If a customer is satisfied with the work that neat to think about how far we’ve we’re doing, we reach out to those customers and leverage them come.” Today, Tri State also has to put us in other markets with that company,” says Brunscheen. 75 employees and has expanded “So, if it’s one of the wireless carriers, and we’re doing a lot of great from its original three-state area things for them in Iowa, we’ll reach out to people in Iowa and ask – Iowa, , and for a reference for their partners in Wisconsin.” – to include work in , Tri State pays close attention to its own employees, as well. “We , , , and do a lot of promoting from within,” says Hagstrom. “A lot of our se- , among other places. nior Project Managers started off being a Tech One, to a Tech Two, “We’ve been all over the country,” says Brunscheen. Tri State’s services include: turn- When Rick founded Tri State Tower in key tower construction and erec- tion, including site acquisition, pad the early ’90s, he was driving a late and pier foundations, grounding 1980s Buick Skylark around from tower utilities, site grading, access road installation, compound and anchor to tower. We currently have over fifty fencing, generator installation, line and antenna installation, and We are committed to keeping your trucks, trailers, and special equipment in microwave installation; tower site maintenance, including emergen- contracting business protected so you can our fleet. It’s pretty neat to think about cy and disaster recovery; technical focus on your day-to-day operations. how far we’ve come. services, such as equipment instal- lation and inspection, as well as PETE HAGSTROM troubleshooting and testing: and a VP FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT new fiber division that offers fiber www.firstiowa.com optic placement, splicing, testing, Robert L. Hammerberg, CIC drilling, trenching, and boring. Brunscheen stresses that since 319-393-5262 PREFERRED VENDOR AT A GLANCE | TRI STATE TOWER [email protected] much of Tri State’s projects come n First Iowa Insurance Agency, Inc. WHAT: Tower fabrication, construc- WHERE: Marion, Iowa from its current customers as www.firstiowa.com tion, and maintenance for wireless repeat business, building rela- WEBSITE: www.tristatetower.com companies tionships with them, and always “going above and beyond” is still key to the company’s success. “We TRI STATE TOWER

to a Top Hand, to a Field Supervisor, Project Manager, or Construc- again stresses the company’s constant work on its culture and tion Manager. We’re always growing and developing that individual communication skills. “In the past two and a half years, our leader- to be the best they can be. We challenge our customers, as well, to ship team has worked with a business coach and we’ve put a lot find out how we can get better.” of focus on, and attention to, the culture that we have at Tri State Concern for employee safety is also a high company priority. “Ev- Tower,” he says. “Part of that culture is how we talk to people; how ery Monday morning, we have a safety meeting where we collaborate we talk to one another; how we encourage others to be better; how company-wide, whether they’re in Fond du Lac, Omaha, Des Moines, or we encourage co-workers to achieve the same level of success that Marion,” Hagstrom explains. “We utilize web conferencing so everyone maybe one of our top guys has. In the past six months, we’ve started is able to see and hear exactly what’s going on. When you have a total seeing a huge shift in the way people are approaching a challeng- of 15 crews that are out and about at sites and not physically able ing situation; a huge shift and change in the way people are talking to make it to the corporate office, they’re still able to access it via to each other.” their smart phones, and they’re held accountable to make sure that Hagstrom agrees: “Let’s not be good – let’s be great,” he declares. they’re getting the education about the safety concerns that we have. “I would like our customers to know that we’re their preferred ven- Also, we’re getting that message out there, not only to our team, but dor. If that customer doesn’t succeed, we don’t succeed. It goes back to the sub-contractors that we deal with on a regular basis. We live to integrity on the job site; it goes back to open communication; it stream everything on Monday morning.” goes back to the collective I.Q. to solve the problems and obstacles As Tri State Tower continues to grow and mature, Brunscheen that face us. It goes back to going above and beyond.” WWW.TRISTATETOWER.COM

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