The way people use and operate technology has greatly changed over the years. Whether it be the innovative dial-up introduced in the late 20th century that completely transformed the way people stay connected or the intricate fiber services we see today, high-speed internet is a field that evolves at a rapid pace. However, NITCO, the Region’s leading locally owned independent broadband provider, has navigated these changes with ease while making sure the people of Northwest Indiana always stay top priority every step of the way.
NITCO began in 1939 as a legacy telephone company and a utility in the field. As times changed and technology expanded, NITCO eventually made its way to what it is today – a competitive, high-technology broadband provider with a strong focus on quality fiber services and more for Northwest Indiana.
To go from a time when people conducted most business matters through talking on the telephone to a time when people delve into the wonders of the Internet has been a major feat for NITCO Senior Sales and Marketing Vice President Tom Carroll. Carroll is thrilled that he’s been able to see NITCO grow so much along the way.
“People absolutely loved our dial-up because it gave them access to something they've never seen or heard before,” Carroll said. “Then, we transitioned to DSL; now, we've transitioned into fiber. We are doing a huge buildout of fiber in our territory now. We're transitioning all of our customers from copper to brand-new glass fiber so that they can get gigabit and ultimately multi-gigabit speeds to their homes. It's pretty cool that we have a family-owned company that is investing heavily in our future and our customers’ needs to make their experience with NITCO the best that it can be.”
Today, NITCO employs close to 100 people. This includes a tight-knit group of folks passionate about helping the Region with its technological needs, such as installation and repair teams, back-end office teams, accounting teams, salespeople, and more who all work closely together to bring quality, high-speed internet, TV, and voice to Northwest Indiana.
In this group lies a business team that serves 1,200 local business customers and consists of Assistant Director of Sales Heather Dull, Outside Sales Accountant Trisha Madura, Marketing Assistant Kimberly Lock, Business Implementation Specialists Emily Young and Tammy Gray, Sales Engineer Gavin Bristol and Carroll himself. This team serves businesses big and small and has quite an impressive history of projects. These projects include providing internet to the City of Valparaiso, replacing over 700 phones for the Porter County Government, internet and phone services for the East Chicago fire and police stations, and internet services for the Town of Chesterton to name a few.
Carroll credits such a successfully run business to CEO Tom Long, a leader who has always cared for the people around him just as much as the services NITCO offers. Prior to joining the NITCO team, Carroll had an impressive resume of working in television for over 30 years. Carroll is grateful he made the jump from being on screen to helping people make sure the Region has what they need to use their own screens to their best potential.
With a strong commitment to serving those in Northwest Indiana, NITCO enjoys staying local and lending a hand wherever they can to help those in the communities around them. This included giving customers its top speed package at no additional cost during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when many had no choice but to rely on technology to receive an education or even pay the bills.
Being local has also given the NITCO team the advantage to learn more and be more involved with its communities – something that can be a challenge for bigger companies to successfully do. By staying local, NITCO has been able to support many nonprofits throughout Lake, Porter, Newton, and Jasper counties and loves spending time at community events.
Our Greater Good is one organization in particular that NITCO enjoys helping. NITCO always contributes to Our Greater Good’s annual Chefs Around the Table event where chefs come together to share great food with the Region while fundraising for a great cause.
More recently, the NITCO team supported Strack & Van Til CEO Jeff Strack, who received a Good Scout award for his work as an Eagle Scout. At this event, NITCO was able to come together with many other Region businesses as they surpassed the donation goal for the Boy Scouts of America by $25,000.
To Carroll and the NITCO team, there’s no better feeling than coming together to help others.
“Being involved in Northwest Indiana is so important because people here come together and rally around the cause of the greater good,” Carroll said. “There's no better way to do that. If you come together in Northwest Indiana, you get the right group of people together saying, ‘Hey, we have a cause to be to support,’ and they step up.”
NITCO is additionally looking to expand its Region-oriented team and is currently hiring for a variety of positions, including its construction teams, installation and repair members, customer service people, and more. To learn more about NITCO or become part of the team, visit its website here.