BNET Industries

Last Fiscal Year Sales:$189.8M
  • Private
  • US
Dow Jones Description

Born in Texas, with roots a decade old, Grande Communications is a Texas-based communications company providing residential and business customers with high-speed Internet, local and long-distance telephone and digital cable services over a single network. Grande is building a new, high capacity, fiber-optic network from the ground up, using the latest technological advancements in broadband communications. Grande is the first broadband company in the region to build such a network from the ground up and the first to offer service in Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos. Grande believes its customers find value not only in better service and cost savings, but also in the convenient one call for customer service and one itemized bill. Grande, a company that is already building a high-speed broadband network along the Austin/San Antonio I-35 corridor, also provides similar services to customers in 18 additional franchise cities including Corpus Christi, Midland, Odessa, Waco and communities north of Dallas which gives Grande a total of 48 franchises since the company was founded in December 1999. In addition to its growing fiber-optic network, Grande also provides DSL high-speed Internet, dial-up access and local and long-distance telephone service to several communities and apartment complexes in the Houston area. These "off network" telephone and data services are also being rolled out to many other cities across Texas.

President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Roy H Chestnutt
Number of Employees 810
Contact Information

401 Carlson Cir

San Marcos, Texas 78666

grandecom.com

(512) 878-4000

NAICS Code Wired Telecommunications Carriers: 517110

News & Analysis

grande communications holdings inc. - All News and Analysis

Decision Makers

Name (plus bio) Position
Henry Jacobsen Chief Information Officer
Michael L. Wilfley Chief Financial Officer
Walter K.L. Ferguson Jr. Chief Operating Officer
William C. Jones Chief Service Officer
Martha E Smiley Executive Vice President
Jeff Brennan Senior Vice President Business Services
Miguel Lecuona Senior Vice President of Marketing
Brady Adams Vice President of Network Operations and Engineering
Deborah Riese Maus Vice President and Controller
Harris Bass Vice President and General Manager, Austin
J Lyn Findley Vice President, Retail Operations
Jared P. Benson Vice President, Network Services
Kay Stroman Vice President, Human Resources
Mark Machen Vice President, Retail Operations
Richard Robuck Vice President of Corporate Finance
Dottie Lane General Manager, Corpus Christi
Matt Rohre General Manager, Waco
K L Scott Ferguson
Douglas T. Brannagan Treasurer

Board of Directors

Name (plus bio) Position
Roy H Chestnutt President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
James Mansour Chairman
David Hull Board of Directors
Duncan Butler Board of Directors
John C Hockin Board of Directors
Lawrence M Schmeltekopf Board of Directors
Paul V. Walsh Board of Directors
Richard Orchard Board of Directors
William Laverack Board of Directors

Organization Position Status
Apple Creek Candles Chairman & CEO Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors Current
Sprint Communications Officer Former
NEXTEL Communications, Inc. Former
PrimeCo Personal Communications Former
University of San Francisco MBA Former
San Jose State University BS In Business Administration Former

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Chief Information Officer Current

Mike Wilfley has served as Chief Financial Officer for the past 20 years and as Grande's CFO since 2000. He possesses experience in finance, compliance reporting, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, management information systems, investor relations, human resources and accounting operations. Wilfley has led Grande's fundraising efforts since February 2000. Prior to joining the Grande team, Wilfley was CFO of Thrifty Call, Inc., where he was responsible for the capital markets and mergers and acquisitions efforts that led to Thrifty Call's eventual acquisition by Grande Communications. Wilfley also served as CFO for Littlefield Real Estate Co., a private investment company, which managed more than $250 million in equity and debt interests in Texas-based commercial real estate. Mr. Wilfley also serves on the Board of Directors of Austin based Littlefield Corporation (LTFD). He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, a certified public accountant and a member of the Financial Executives Institute and The National Association of Corporate Directors.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Chief Financial Officer Current
Apple Creek Candles CFO Current
Littlefield Corporation Director and Chair of the Audit Committee Current
Financial Executives Institute Current
National Association of Corporate Directors Board of Directors Current
Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants Board of Directors Current
Littlefield Corporation Director Current
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Board of Directors Current
National Association of Corporate Directors Member Current
Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants Member Current
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Member Current
The University of Texas at Austin Former

Walter K.L. "Scott" Ferguson, Jr. has served as our Chief Operating Officer since February 2006. Prior to that, from July 2005 to February 2006, he served as Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, and from June 2002 to January 2005, Executive Vice President, Retail Services and from February 2000 to June 2002 as Chief Operating Officer. Previously, from 1997 to 1999, Mr. Ferguson was a founding partner and senior vice president of PrimeOne, L.P., a broadband video services company. At PrimeOne, Mr. Ferguson was involved with operating, sales and customer service strategies for BellSouth, SBC Communications, Inc. and Southern New England Telephone Corporation broadband trials and businesses. Prior to working at PrimeOne, Mr. Ferguson served in various capacities at Prime Cable, a cable multiple systems operator based in Austin, Texas, including vice president of administrative services and vice president of operations. Prior to Prime Cable, Mr. Ferguson worked for Tenneco, Inc. in the corporate finance and investor relations groups as well as Arthur Young & Co. where he focused in tax practice. He is a certified public accountant and a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his BBA degree in Finance and an MBA in Accounting and Finance.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Chief Operating Officer Current
Prime One Co Current
Tenneco, Inc. Former
The University of Texas at Austin Former

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Chief Service Officer Current

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Executive Vice President Current

Jeffrey A. Brennan has served as our Senior Vice President Business Services since April 2006. Mr. Brennan is responsible for leading Grande s broadband transport services, network services and enterprise sales departments. Prior to joining Grande Mr. Brennan served as Vice President of Sprint s Public Sector for the West Region from 2005 to 2006, and was Area Vice President for Nextel s Pacific Northwest, from 2002 to 2005. He has worked for several companies in the telecommunications industry including Primeco, US West and Verizon/GTE. He began his career at Verizon/GTE as a telephone traffic engineer and then held positions in network planning, sales operations, product management and national account sales. At Verizon/GTE, Mr. Brennan was responsible for marketing and planning for sales of private line and switched services for a national fiber optic and satellite network serving the North American and Caribbean markets. Mr. Brennan earned a MBA and a BBA in Management from Angelo State University. He also holds a Radio Communication Technology degree from the Community College of the Air Force.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Senior Vice President Business Services Current
Angelo State University Bachelor of Business Administration In Management Former
Angelo State University MBA Former
Angelo State University Bachelor of Business Administration In Management Former
Community College Limited Degree Former

Miguel Lecuona joins Grande Communications as Senior Vice President of Marketing. With over 15 years of post-MBA experience in technology marketing and strategic business development, Mr. Lecuona's most recent position at Nextel was Senior Marketing Director. Holding the top marketing position in one of Nextel's three operating regions, Mr. Lecuona was charged with full marketing responsibility for the Western US. He also created and opened the award-winning Nextel Central Monorail Station at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Lecuona joined Nextel in 1994, serving a variety of field and headquarters marketing roles. He developed the innovative pricing strategy for Nextel's national service launch in 1997. As Area Marketing Director launched Nextel service in Texas. Later, as Senior Director of Network Services Marketing, his team launched Nationwide Direct Connect . Prior to joining Nextel, Mr. Lecuona held brand management positions in consumer-packaged goods for 3 years while at Frito Lay, Inc. Mr. Lecuona earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in management from Texas A&M University, and an MBA in marketing from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Senior Vice President of Marketing Current
Frito-Lay, Inc. Former
Texas A&M University Bachelor of Business Administration In Management Former

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President of Network Operations and Engineering Current
Nortel Networks Corporation Former

Organization Position Status
Apple Creek Candles Vice President and Controller Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President and Controller Current
La Quinta Corporation Current

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President and General Manager, Austin Current
The University of Texas Business Administration Former

J Findley is responsible for oversight of the Dallas, Waco, and Houston retail markets, as well as the company's call center operations. He has acquired a broad range of knowledge in the ILEC, MSO and Broadband industries during his 25-year career. He joined Grande after serving as Vice President of Operations for ClearSource, Inc. He played a key role in launching and raising funds for the first broadband over-builder in Texas. Also, he was an officer at Golden Sky Systems, Inc. and MultiTechnology Services while serving as Vice President Retail of Operations of both companies. Findley started his telecommunications career working for GTE holding various management positions in the customer service organization. His past experience with these aforementioned companies were: call centers, billing, technical, construction, engineering, customer fulfillment and collections.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President, Retail Operations Current

Jared P. Benson has served as Vice President of Enterprise and Wholesale Services since August 2008. Prior to that, from January 2001 to August 2008, he served as Vice President of Network Services. Mr. Benson is responsible for Grande's Enterprise and Wholesale divisions. Prior to joining Grande in April 2000, he served as Senior Carrier Account Manager for C3 Communications Network Division. Mr. Benson also provided voice, data and Internet service consulting to a variety of businesses while President of Intellicom Consulting Corporation. Before his consulting work, he served Westel Long Distance Communications, Inc. managing regional sales, where he directed multiple branch sales offices across the South. Additionally, Mr. Benson serves on the Board of Texaltel as its Vice President, a trade association with the purpose of promoting the business interests of competitive telecommunications and data service providers. He also served as the Marketing Chair on the board of the Young Men's Business League of Austin. Mr. Benson received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Tulsa.

Organization Position Status
Wholesale Services Vice President Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President, Network Services Current
Apple Creek Candles Vice President Current
The University of Tulsa Bachelor of Science In Marketing Former

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President, Human Resources Current
Apple Creek Candles Vice President, Human Resources Current
Society for Human Resource Management Board of Directors Current
Society for Human Resource Management Member Current
Leadership Texas Former
Hexcel Corporation Member Former

Mark Machen is responsible for oversight of the Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos, Midland, Odessa and Corpus Christi markets. With over 20 years experience, he has extensive knowledge in the telecommunications and video services industry in both the regulated and competitive environments. He joined the Grande team with the 2002 acquisition of ClearSource, Inc. Before joining the Grande/ClearSource team, Machen held key positions within the Wholesale division of Verizon (formerly GTE). At GTE, he served as the Division Resource Manager in Durham, North Carolina and as Senior Administrator in Irving, Texas. Prior to working at GTE, Machen served as Director of Construction for Multi-Technology Services (MTS) in Richardson, Texas. His primary responsibilities included infrastructure provisioning in the company's Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio markets. Additionally while at MTS, he held the position of Director of Operations where he led all customer service activities, including installations of service, repair activities and management of the customer contact center.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President, Retail Operations Current

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Vice President of Corporate Finance Current
The University of Texas at Austin Bba Former

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc General Manager, Corpus Christi Current

As General Manager of Grande's Waco operations, Matt Rohre leads the market's residential and commercial sales, field operations, office fulfillment and community relationships. Before assuming his duties for Grande's Waco market, he spent two years as Director of Field Operations for the Austin/San Marcos/Houston markets, working closely with management and over 40 technicians to increase service call response rates and improve production efficiency. Prior to Grande, Rohre spent over a decade in the telecommunications industry in various management and technical roles, both as a service provider and a vendor. He is a member of the United Way/Capital Area's Young Leaders Society and was a finalist for the Austin Business Journal's Rising Star award. Rohre graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc General Manager, Waco Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Manager Former
University of Texas At Dallas Bachelor of Arts In Interdisciplinary Studies. Former

Mr. Ferguson served as Interim Chief Executive Officer and President from July 2005 to February 2006. He remains with the Company as Chief Operating Officer.

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Current

Organization Position Status
Convergent Investors Steve Shaper Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Chairman Current
Acta Incorporated Board of Directors Current
Ceoamerica Board of Directors Current
Comptel Corporation Board of Directors Current
Redeemer Presbyterian Church Board of Directors Current
Comptel Corporation Member Current
Acta Incorporated Member Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Former
Tulane University Law School Jd Former
Millsaps College Bba Former
St Joseph High School Former

Organization Position Status
Extenet Systems, Inc. Managing Director for Centennial Ventures Current
Centennial Ventures managing director Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
Augmentix Corporation Board of Directors Current
Extenet Systems, Inc. Board of Directors Current
Clearlinx Network Corporation Investor Current
Innerwireless, Inc. Investor Current
Augmentix Corporation Investor Current
Criterion Incorporated Former
The University of Texas M.B.A. Former
The University of Texas at Austin MBA Former
The University of Texas B.S. in Chemical Engineering Former
The University of Texas at Austin BS In Chemical Engineering Former

Doug Brannagan has almost 19 years of tax, cash management, and risk management experience. Brannagan has worked for Ernst & Young, LLP, providing accounting and finance consultation to both public and privately-owned communications companies. He was also the Controller for Thrifty Call, Inc. for five years where he was responsible for the company's financial and regulatory reporting. He is a certified public accountant and a graduate of Hastings College with Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Biology and Business. He also attended the University of Texas of Austin where he earned his Master of Professional Accountancy.

Organization Position Status
Apple Creek Candles Treasurer Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Treasurer Current
Hastings College Bachelor of Arts Degrees Former
The University of Texas Former

Duncan Butler is the managing director of Centennial's Austin office. Prior to Centennial, he worked at Prime New Ventures, an Austin-based venture firm which he co-founded in 1994 to manage venture funds focused on telecommunications and related areas.

Organization Position Status
Masergy Communications, Inc. Managing Director of Centennial's Austin Office Current
Centennial Ventures Managing Director Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
Masergy Communications, Inc. Board of Directors Current
Masergy Communications, Inc. Investor Current
Centennial, Inc. Former
University of Texas School of Law Jd Former
The University of Texas at Austin MBA Former
The University of Texas M.B.A. Former
The University of Texas at Austin Bba Former
University of Texas School of Law Bba Former
The University of Texas B.B.A Former

Organization Position Status
J.H. Whitney Investment Management, LLC Portfolio Manager and Co-Founder Current
Whitney & Co., LLC Partner Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
United Biosource Corporation Director Current
Stanford Graduate School of Business Masters of Business Administration Former
Yale University B.A. Former

Organization Position Status
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
Southwest Texas State University Bba Former

Paul V. Walsh, Jr. was elected as a member of our board of directors in January 2009 and serves as Chairman of the audit committee and as a member of the finance committee. Mr. Walsh currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for Silicon Laboratories, a publicly traded technology company based in Austin, Texas. Mr. Walsh joined Silicon Laboratories in January 2004 as Director of Finance, Worldwide Operations, and was appointed as the Corporate Controller in May 2005. In November 2006, Mr. Walsh was promoted to Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining Silicon Laboratories, Mr. Walsh was Site Controller from February 2003 to January 2004 with PerkinElmer, a supplier to the health sciences and photonics markets. From 1992 to 2003, Mr. Walsh held various operational, finance and management roles at Teradyne and Analog Devices. Mr. Walsh is certifiable as a CPA and received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine, and an MBA from Boston University.

Organization Position Status
Silicon Laboratories Inc. Chief Accounting Officer Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
Silicon Laboratories Inc. Vice President Former
Boston University M.B.A Former
University of Maine BS In Mechanical Engineering Former

Richard Orchard, a board member since June 2006, is a seasoned telecommunications veteran with more than 25 years of experience in sales, operations and general management, including 12 years in senior positions. In 2005, he served as chief transition officer for Sprint Nextel, managing all aspects of the successful but complex, $36 billion merger between Sprint and Nextel Communications. During his career with Nextel, Mr. Orchard also served as chief service officer, responsible for development of a best practice Customer Care organization; Eastern regional president, with operational responsibility for all aspects of sales, service, finance, network construction and marketing for the Eastern half of the U.S. market; and area vice president for the Southeast. Before joining Nextel, he spent more than 10 years with PacTel/AirTouch, originally hired as its first sales representative and eventually advancing through positions in sales management and operations and as area vice president of all East Coast properties. He entered the wireless industry in the late 1970s with Motorola Communications after earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Organization Position Status
Peco II, Inc. Board of Directors Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
Customer Care Chief Service Officer Former
Sprint Corporation Chief Former
NEXTEL Communications, Inc. Area Vice President Former
NEXTEL Communications, Inc. Officer Former
Sprint Corporation Officer Former
Nextel Former
University of California, Santa Barbara BA In Political Science Former

Organization Position Status
J.H. Whitney & Co. LLC Managing Director Current
NuVox Communications, Inc. Board of Directors Current
Grande Communications Holdings Inc Board of Directors Current
J.H. Whitney & Co. LLC Senior Partner Former
Harvard University MBA Former
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