C Spire, sister firm are Mississippi Business Journal 2019 Top in Tech award winners

JACKSON, Miss., May 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Two telecommunications industry executives from C Spire Home Services and Franklin Telephone Co., were among 25 individuals honored Thursday for their role in helping transform Mississippi's economy and workforce through the introduction and advancement of technology solutions for consumers and businesses.

A panel of judges from the Mississippi Business Journal, the state's largest business publication, selected the two executives along with 23 others from various industry sectors, including government, education, health care and telecommunications, for the 2019 Top in Tech awards.

This is the third year in a row that Telapex, Inc., the Mississippi-based parent company that owns C Spire and Franklin, had senior managers selected for the award.  All 25 of this year's winners were honored during a special reception and breakfast awards program attended by 100 guests at the Old Capitol Inn in Jackson. 

Ashley Phillips, general manager of C Spire Home Services, and Tom Griffin, vice president and general manager of Franklin Telephone Co., were recognized for their leadership and innovation in leading the two sister companies.  Phillips, who joined C Spire in 2016, is a 31-year veteran of the telecommunications industry and Griffin has worked for 30 years in the profession.

Phillips, who joined C Spire in 2016, is general manager of C Spire Home Services, which provides consumers with ultra-fast Gigabit speed internet access, award-winning live streaming TV and digital home phone.  Griffin has worked for Franklin Telephone, which provides telecommunications and broadband services to portions of 26 Mississippi counties, since 2001.

"We're very pleased and honored to have two more executives receive this recognition from the state's leader in business news," said C Spire CEO Hu Meena, who won the award in 2017.  "These latest awards belong to our entire C Spire and Franklin Telephone teams for their efforts to help move our state forward through broadband technology."

Meena said the recognition shows that the company's technology movement initiative, launched in 2017, is making progress in helping raise awareness and encourage investment in and use of technology to boost the state's economy and attract more high-paying jobs. "We have a long road ahead, but we're continuing to make good progress."

Fiber-based residential broadband services for consumers is part of the C Spire Tech Movement initiative, which is committed to moving communities forward through technology with a focus on broadband access, workforce development and innovation.

"All of our honorees are dedicated to using technology to improve our quality of life and deliver the products and services that consumers and businesses rely on to drive our state's economy into the future," said Mississippi Business Journal Publisher Alan Turner. "We need more leaders and businesses like these to help us deliver the technology of tomorrow today."

About C Spire
C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access for consumers as well as a full suite of dedicated Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data and cloud services for businesses.  This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.

About Franklin Telephone Company
Franklin Telephone Company, Inc. (FTC) is an incumbent local exchange provider (ILEC) of legacy and advanced telecommunications services in 26 rural Mississippi counties. FTC provides traditional voice services as well as high-speed Internet via DSL and fiber optic technologies, Voice Over IP (VoIP), security and home automation products and IP TV to consumers and businesses in its service areas.  FTC is part of the Telapex, Inc., family of companies, which includes C Spire.  To learn more about FTC and its services, visit www.ftcweb.net or www.facebook.com/franklintelephone.

SOURCE C Spire

Related Links

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