4 WINTER 2023 BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT Andrew Randol, CEO and General Manager of Panora Fiber, said, “For four or five years now, our company had been dealing with the question, ‘Who are we?’ The board of directors finally told me to take it off the back burner and come back with a plan.” Board President Ron Reynolds added, “Yes, we’d been thinking of changing our name for awhile, since times had changed, and we’d become much more of an internet company than a phone company. I’ve been on the board for 40+ years and really didn’t want to change our name that much initially, since I was proud of Panora Telco. However, it clearly needed to get done.” Research and Name Selection After Randol received the board’s directive, he made a call to Shane Petersen, President of Cornerstone Group (the marketing company that’s provided services to Panora Telco and Guthrie Center Communications for years). Randol asked Petersen for help developing one new name for the two companies. “Shane took a simple ask and ran with it. He thoroughly knew our business and industry, asked the right questions, and went to work on the naming project. He did this research as an independent project, since for objectivity, it was important for me to stay out of the process,” Randol said. At the board retreat in June 2022, Petersen reviewed eight case studies on fiber builds in other markets, and in each case, “fiber” was the word that differentiated the company from the competition as it communicates speed and reliability. His research also revealed that a major frustration expressed by customers of national providers was dealing with call centers in foreign countries for support and experiencing slow service times due to only one tech covering several counties. In August 2022, Panora Telco and Guthrie Center Communications both became Panora Fiber. Why did this name change take place? And what was involved in the process? How a big change happened in a small amount of time Rebranding to Panora Fiber
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