Company Mission
The Union Telephone Company's mission is to become the premier telecommunications provider in the Rocky Mountain region. The Union Telephone Company will become the provider of choice for telecommunication services in those areas that are immediately adjacent to and within the current service area. The Union Telephone Company must focus on customers and their perception of value in order to become a major telecommunications provider in this area.
This focus is necessary, as competition will allow the customer many new choices. By providing the best value to the customer, The Union Telephone Company will prosper. In order to do so, The Union Telephone Company will provide a full line of telecommunication services: Interstate Toll, Intrastate Toll, Plain Old Telephone Service, Cellular Telephone Service, Data Transport, Data Application Solutions, Equipment Sales, and Equipment Rental. We must become a total solution provider so that we can meet the needs of our customers from a single source to a complete turnkey solution to their telecommunication needs. This will allow us to prosper in the new competitive world.
Company Vision
We believe that our responsibility is to those who use our services. In meeting their needs, everything we do must be of high quality. We must constantly strive to reduce our costs in order to maintain reasonable prices. We must strive to maintain current technology in our services so that our customers will enjoy the benefits and convenience of modern services. Customer orders must be serviced promptly and accurately. Our suppliers and distributors must have an opportunity to make a fair profit.
We are responsible to our employees, the men and women who work with us. Everyone must be considered as an individual. We must respect their dignity and recognize their merit. They must have a sense of security in their jobs. Compensation must be fair and adequate, and working conditions clean, orderly, and safe. We must be mindful of ways to help our employees fulfill their family responsibilities. Employees must feel free to make suggestions and complaints. There must be equal opportunity for employment, development, and advancement for those qualified. We must provide competent management and their actions must be just and ethical.
We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work and to the world community as well. We must be good citizens - support good works and charities and bear our fair share of taxes. We must encourage civic improvements and better health and education. We must maintain, in good order, the property we are privileged to use, protecting the environment and natural resources.
Our final responsibility is to our stockholders. Business must make a sound profit. We must experiment with new ideas. Research must be carried on, innovative programs developed, and mistakes paid for. New equipment must be purchased, new facilities provided and new services launched. Reserves must be created to provide for adverse times. When we operate according to these principles, the stockholders should realize a fair return.
Core Values
EARNEST
I will act with respect, sincerity, and emotional intelligence, all while understanding the power and impact of my words and actions.
PURPOSE-DRIVEN
I am motivated, steadfast in my drive to improve and always put the collective success of the team first.
HUMBLE
I am quick to point out the contribution of others and slow to seek attention for myself.
Pictured Top: Howard Woody as a young man.
From Humble Beginnings
The Union Telephone Company was founded in 1914 by John D Woody, in the small town of Mountain View, in Wyoming’s Bridger Valley.
Mr. Woody dreamed of connecting the residents of Bridger Valley - with each other, and with the outside world. The service grew from a humble start of stringing farmer lines across barbed wire fence posts to connect neighboring ranches to the creation of a handful of local telephone exchanges, connecting communities in the valley.
The technology was in its infancy, and Union provided the first-ever telephone service to its customers. For those early customers, it was life-changing. They could call a doctor in an emergency, and, instead of spending the better part of a day travelling, call to order a part or check in on a distant neighbor in real-time.
A Family Affair
When John’s son, Howard Woody, took on the leadership role at Union, he embraced the same single-minded commitment to providing phone service - but across a much larger swath of Wyoming. In some cases, Howard’s desire to provide telephone service to individuals in remote areas resulted in the company losing money. But to Howard, like his father before him, the desire to help people communicate was paramount.
In the early days, the company struggled, but under Howard Woody’s leadership the landline customer base grew, and the company became profitable. This success is all the more laudable when viewed against an American landscape littered with hundreds of failed telecoms unable to adapt and invest in new technology as the telephone industry evolved.
Pictured Top: Howard Woody as a young man.
From Humble Beginnings
The Union Telephone Company was founded in 1914 by John D Woody, in the small town of Mountain View, in Wyoming’s Bridger Valley.
Mr. Woody dreamed of connecting the residents of Bridger Valley - with each other, and with the outside world. The service grew from a humble start of stringing farmer lines across barbed wire fence posts to connect neighboring ranches to the creation of a handful of local telephone exchanges, connecting communities in the valley.
The technology was in its infancy, and Union provided the first-ever telephone service to its customers. For those early customers, it was life-changing. They could call a doctor in an emergency, and, instead of spending the better part of a day traveling, call to order a part or check in on a distant neighbor in real-time.
A Family Affair
When John’s son, Howard Woody, took on the leadership role at Union, he embraced the same single-minded commitment to providing phone service - but across a much larger swath of Wyoming. In some cases, Howard’s desire to provide telephone service to individuals in remote areas resulted in the company losing money. But to Howard, like his father before him, the desire to help people communicate was paramount.
In the early days, the company struggled, but under Howard Woody’s leadership the landline customer base grew, and the company became profitable. This success is all the more laudable when viewed against an American landscape littered with hundreds of failed telecoms unable to adapt and invest in new technology as the telephone industry evolved.
Union Today ~ Four Generations in, Still a Family Passion
Union has 18 landline telephone exchange areas covering 7,400 square miles in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Union’s wireless service area is even more comprehensive, covering over 122,000 square miles across Wyoming and parts of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Utah – roughly the same territory as Washington DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and West Virginia combined. Union's broadband internet network has surpassed 1,000 miles of fiber in the ground, with service from Pinedale to Saratoga to Manila, Utah.
Still family-owned, the fourth generation of the Woody family guide Union today from its headquarters, which is still based in Mountain View, Wyoming.
With 273 employees, many military veterans among them, Union also has 10 retail locations. All told, Union serves over 40,000 landline, wireless and broadband customers.
Pictured, from left to right, are Brian Woody, Stacey Aughe, and Eric Woody.
Leadership
Eric Woody
Union’s Chief Executive Officer. Before taking on the position of CEO, in 2022, Eric worked as Chief Technology and Operations Officer. Eric has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He joined Union in 1997 and is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Brian Woody
Union’s Chief Customer Relations Officer. With a B.S. in Electronics Engineering Technologies, before starting his career with Union, he worked as a software developer. Brian joined Union in 2001 and has developed expertise in technology, marketing, and customer relations.
Stacey Aughe
Union’s Chief Administration and Information Officer. After beginning her career with Union, Stacey worked in telecommunications in the US Army. Stacey has a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering. Since rejoining Union, in 2003, Stacey has performed in a management role in information technology and other technology and business roles.
