Cablefax The Magazine - July 2015 - 19

2015 Top Ops Awards
INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Adele Skolits
Shentel
Adele Skolits is loaded with contradictions
in the most charming way. Much like her
employer, Shenandoah Telecommunications
Company, known as Shentel. It's a
publicly traded entity, but it's headquartered
in Edinburg, VA, population 1,059,
according to the 2013 Census. Edinburg
recently underwent a growth spurt-
between the 2010 and 2013 Census it
added 18 people. Honest. Skolits sums it
up well: " We may be the only company
listed on the NASDAQ that's headquartered
in a town without a stoplight. "
Then there's Skolits herself, raised in a
suburb of Washington, DC, but living and
working in the country, nestled in the Blue
Ridge Mountains, just 100 miles west of
the nation's capital, but in a completely
different world. Another contradiction,
Skolits is not your typical fi nancial type. Yes, she has a facility for
numbers, but also has a rep as a very good storyteller with a warm
personality. And while Skolits interacts regularly with Wall Street, she's
also on call at home. " I can hardly pump gas or get my hair done
without having to answer questions from our shareholders, " she says
of her neighbors. You'll understand why in a moment.
Skolits is not your typical CFO in another important way. As her
colleague Chris Kyle says, " Good CFOs always have data-driven
answers about how companies can improve their margins or ROI. "
But " great CFOs ask the tough questions that help drive operational
improvements that can deliver those higher margins and better ROIs.
They are constantly learning, pulling data and research to glean best
practices and metrics that can be used for internal evaluations-
and improvements. Adele does all this with great enthusiasm...
she's been pivotal to Shentel's continuing success, " Kyle says.
To appreciate some of these delightful contradictions it's helpful to
know Shentel began in 1902 as Farmers Mutual Telephone System.
To be a customer, you had to buy one share of stock, for $10, not
an inconsiderable sum (one infl ation calculator equates it to $277
today). Had you held that share, or more likely inherited it from your
great grandparents, you would own 8,600 shares today, due to stock
splits. Many of Skolits's neighbors are those lucky shareholders,
hence questions at the gas station and hairdresser.
In 1980, Shentel began offering cable
to about 16K homes passed. When
Skolits arrived 8 years ago after a stop
at Comcast Cellular among others,
cable generated just 10% of Shentel's
revenue. Sprint, a partner, was generating
about 80%. " Shentel was a public
company behaving like a private one, "
she says. There were no earnings calls,
for example. Skolits changed that fast.
In addition, Shentel " decided to diversify...
we thought broadband was the
place to be. " It bought cable systems in
" under-served communities " and then
upgraded them to the triple play. Most
offered video only. Today Shentel has
some 124K cable RGUs spread over VA,
WV and MD. Cable contributes 26% of
Shentel's revenue. The plan worked, as
evidenced by more outside investors
attracted by a steadily climbing stock,
which closed at $32.23, June 19.
While Skolits, her fellow senior managers and the board deserve
much of the credit, there were other factors. Shentel had been
conservatively managed, with little debt. And the majority of
shareholders-individuals like Skolits's neighbors-were patient,
giving it time to make acquisitions. Wall Street analysts were less
patient, demanding quick returns. It's not a surprise the individual
shareholders took a long-term view. Heck, they'd owned their shares
for 100+ years.
- Seth Arenstein
FAST FACTS
Fast Facts
uForbes named Shentel one of the Top 100 Most Trustworthy
Companies in America in 2013 and 2014. It has
700 employees.
uWith her hobbies of gardening and biking, Skolitis says
there are few better places to live than Edinburg. She
grows " impractical plants... perennials. "
Cablefax: The Magazine
July 2015
cablefaxmag.com
19
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Cablefax The Magazine - July 2015

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