April 2014
| Business World Magazine | 173
plication, it opens up a tremendous amount
of future opportunities. Definitely the de-
mand for the data network is going up, but
that doesn’t mean people are making less
telephone calls or communicating less via
the telephone, they’re just doing it in a dif-
ferent way.”
As the company girds itself for the fu-
ture, among its main objectives – even in an
industry where the pace of change remains
remarkably rapid – is to maintain the small-
town, local feel that its customers in rural
Alabama have come to expect and enjoy.
Freeman has five kids, and his 9-year-old has
already begun to show interest in what dad
does for a living.
“We’re able to make the world a little
smaller,” he says. “Somebody that doesn’t
want to live in a big city, they’re able to work
and be productive here and have the tools
and technology they need to be able to com-
municate with the rest of the world.
“Our network is really just idling right
now, there’s still room for growth.”
And as it grows, Freeman’s grandfather
remains as a foundational piece.
“That’s kind of what we feel like we’ve
built here – something that all of our family
members and employees can benefit from,”
he says. “One of the biggest things my father
says is ‘Our employees show up as liabilities
on the books, but are truly assets.’ We want
to take care of our community, our employ-
ees, and our families.”
