WVT's new CEO: ‘This is a gem of a company'

Warwick - Although he’s been on the job less than a month as WVT Communications’ newly appointed president and chief executive officer, Duane Albro is not wasting time dwelling on the past or suggestions to sell off part or all of the 105-year-old company formerly known as the Warwick Valley Telephone. “I’m here to grow this company,” Albro said during an interview this week, “not break it up.” On May 1, Albro replaced interim President and Chief Executive Tom Gray who had stepped in after the retirement of Herb Gareiss. Albro has 35 years of telecommunications experience. Starting out as a service technician in 1966 for New York Telephone, he progressed to the level of group vice president for NYNEX and Bell Atlantic. From 1997 to 2000, he was in charge of all New York operations as the designated Operations Vice President. Since then he has worked as an industry and investment consultant and was president and CEO of Refinish, a Fort Worth, Texas, cell phone recycling company from 2005 to 2007. Albro also served as operations vice president for Cablevision Systems Corporation in 2002 and 2003, and from 2001 to 2002 he was president of Net 2000 Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier providing services to business customers. Albro’s positive attitude should bring comfort to residents and employees who understand the value of the historic company and its economic contribution to the community. “Controlling costs is important,” he said, “but there are no plans to downsize. We will grow the company to profitability.” As a former officer with Cablevision Systems Corporation, Albro recalls how important Warwick was to that company and the aggressive marketing techniques it employed to gain a foothold in this area. He believes that WVT Communications can recapture its former dominance by offering better products and service than the competition. “We shouldn’t just provide the exact same service and allow people to make a decision simply based only on price,” he said. “We have cellular service as well as digital TV, telephone and broadband access to the Internet. Our company can offer more than a ‘Triple Play.’ We can offer our customers a ‘Quadruple’ Play.” In line with this type of forward thinking, Albro would like to see WVT not only offering more competitive pricing but also expanding its digital TV service area, boosting broadband speed and providing High Definition (HD) television, possibly by the end of this year. “One other incentive for that HD timetable,” he smiled, “ is that I would like to have HD myself.” In addition to the many services offered to local residents, WVT Communications also provides technologically advanced communications systems for businesses outside this area. And the company has an interest in the highly profitable Orange County Poughkeepsie Limited Partnership, a wholesale provider of wireless minutes. In the past, a group of stockholders, believing the parts are worth more than the whole, have argued that WVT should sell some of its more profitable interests to increase the value of the stock. Albro, however, counters that this is a short-sighted suggestion by swing investors just looking for a quick profit and not in line with the long range goals of the company’s traditional stockholders. He explained that those goals are achievable and that the company has a track record for filling customer needs through innovation. WVT, for example, was one of the first rural telephone companies to install digital switching, to offer Internet access as an Internet Service Provider and to offer video service as an alternative to large, distant cable TV companies. “This is a gem of a company,” said Albro. “It has roots in this community and a long history of being a good neighbor, offering great service and developing new products for its customers. And that’s how we’ll continue to grow and be profitable.”