Paul Bunyan Communications is returning over $6.3 million to its members in 2022!

For current members with a distribution amount of $100 or less, a credit has been applied to your July bill. Checks have been mailed out for distributions of more than $100.

Paul Bunyan Communications is a not for profit company that strives to provide the highest quality service at the most affordable rates.  As a cooperative, membership in Paul Bunyan Communications includes the opportunity to share in the financial success of the company. When profits are earned they are allocated to the members based on their proportional share of the allocable revenues.  These allocations may then be returned to the individual members through capital credit retirements.

“The state of our cooperative is very strong with over 28,000 active members throughout our 6,000 square mile service territory.  We have been very busy building one of the largest all-fiber optic rural Gigabit networks in the country, the GigaZone, which is revolutionizing the way members live, work, and play.  It is rewarding to see all those efforts continue to pay off and return these profits to our membership” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager.

“For over 70 years we have been providing the latest in technology at cost.  There is no membership fee to join Paul Bunyan Communications and there are no annual membership dues. All you need to do is subscribe to either one line of local phone or Broadband Internet service and you become a member. You get the latest in technology backed up by our talented team of over 150 local employees that all live and work here” added Dave Schultz, Paul Bunyan Communications Chief Financial Officer.

“In a highly competitive industry with national competitors our cooperative has been successful because we put our region and our members first.  We don’t have to worry about customers all over the place like in Sioux Falls, Fargo, Minneapolis, or anywhere else. Our investments go here, back into our network, our services, and our communities.” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

If you were a member of the cooperative in 2003 and/or 2021 and accrued more than $10 in total capital credit allocations, but do not receive the credit on your account or a check by July 22, please contact Paul Bunyan Communications at (218) 444-1234 or (218) 999-1234.

Paul Bunyan Communications and the Red Lake Nation are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Tuesday, July 19 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Oshkiimaajitahdah Building, 15525 Mendota Avenue in Redby MN

This new long-term benefit will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program.

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to ACP Benefit to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

Paul Bunyan Communications and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Wednesday, June 15 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Facility Center – 16126 John Moose Dr NW, Cass Lake.

This new long-term benefit will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program.

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to ACPBenefit.org to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

The 66^th Business Meeting of Paul Bunyan Communications was held on Wednesday, May 25 at 3:30 p.m. at the Sanford Center Lakeside Rooms.

The meeting included reports for the 2021 fiscal year and the re-election of board director Tim Hins, District 8 (1,284 votes) to challenger Karl Mork (793 votes)

MnDOT plans to resurface a portion of Highway 71 and make intersection improvements at eight locations between Highway 197 and Winter Sumac Road. Construction is now underway.

You can learn more about the project here https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d2/projects/hwy71-bemidji/index.html and stay up to date on the project throughout the construction by signing up for email updates on the project website.

The highway is in need of long-term improvements to address intersection safety and aging infrastructure. The additional intersections included in the project are:

• Anne Street
• Net way
• Fern Street
• Blueberry Lane
• Balsam Road
• Lakewood Drive
• Glidden Road
• Winter Sumac Road

Dylan Haynes of Grand Rapids has been selected to receive the Bud Morrow Scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year from the Minnesota Telecom Alliance Foundation!

The Bud Morrow Scholarship is one of six $2,000 scholarships being awarded by the MTA Foundation this year. Dylan will be attending the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science/Pre-Veterinary Medicine. She is the daughter of Dave and Carol Copp.

“Throughout my education, I have chosen a more rigorous path to prepare myself for post-secondary education.  My primary goal is to become a veterinarian.  I’m elated for the opportunity to work with animals and cannot wait for what is to come” said Dylan in her scholarship application.

In awarding the scholarship to Dylan, Gary said, “We’re excited to have this chance to make an investment in Dylan’s college education.  Rural communities need educated and talented young people like Dylan to be our leaders of the future.  It makes us all proud at Paul Bunyan Communications when one of the statewide winners is selected from our area.

The Foundation is part of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance, a trade organization based in St. Paul representing over 44 telephone companies and cooperatives in the state.

The AccuWeather Network has been added to Paul Bunyan Television service and is now available to all PBTV main subscribers on channel 298 or PBTV HD channel 798.

 AccuWeather Network provides 24/7 “All Weather, All the Time” programming with documented Superior Accuracy™ from the most trusted global brand in weather forecasting. Every day millions of people rely on the breaking weather coverage provided by the AccuWeather Network to help plan their lives, protect their families and businesses, and get more from their day. The AccuWeather Network delivers coverage on a local, regional, and national scale as well as compelling and dynamic weather news content, including hyper-local forecasts, advanced severe weather warnings and weather preparedness tips and tools. Backed by an expert team of meteorologists and broadcasters, AccuWeather is the leader in global weather forecasting and the “go to” authoritative source for weather events anywhere in the world.

Amelia Scherling of Bemidji has been selected as the winner of the cooperative’s 2022 Youth Tour Essay Contest.  Amelia is in 11^th grade and will attend the 2022 Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. June 1-5, with all expenses paid by Paul Bunyan Communications.

The trip features a comprehensive overview of the telecommunications industry, including careers in telecom, the critical role telecommunications plays in rural America, and how legislative and regulatory decisions affect the industry.  The tour allows youth to meet with members of Congress who represent rural constituents.  They also participate in educational sessions about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  Students visit some of the nation’s most historic sites, including Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian Museums, and a beautiful night tour of our Washington D.C.

“The FRS Youth Tour is a unique opportunity for a local student from our area to visit Washington D.C. to gain a better perspective on how regulatory decisions impact our cooperative and rural areas.  Amelia will also get the chance to see a lot of historic sites in our nation’s capital!” said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

The Foundation for Rural Service is dedicated to informing and to improving the quality of life throughout rural America.  Each year, it organizes the Youth Tour, designed to educate rural youth about the telecommunications industry and the federal political process.  The FRS is a subsidiary of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA), of which Paul Bunyan Communications is a member.

This is the 25^th year that Paul Bunyan Communications has participated in sending a local high school student to the Youth Tour.

The District 9 Caucus will be held on Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. at the Turtle River Township Town Hall.  The doors open at 6:30 p.m. The caucus is only open to members of District 9.

The purpose of the in-person Caucus is to select two pre-qualified candidates to seek election/re-election to be the district’s representative on the Paul Bunyan Communications Board of Directors to serve a five-year term through 2027.

The current director for District 9 is Board Treasurer Tim Hins and he has applied for re-election.  Karl Mork has also applied for the position.

Based on the results of the Caucus Election, the names of two candidates are listed on the ballot to be voted on by the general membership of the Cooperative.  Votes are tallied at the Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 25, 2022.  The candidate from each respective district with the greatest number of votes from the general membership is elected/re-elected as the Director for such district.

Paul Bunyan Communications is pleased to announce that the new Red Lake Nation Radio Station WRLN 105.3 FM has been added to Paul Bunyan Television (PBTV) service.

WRLN 105.3 FM can be found on PBTV channel 960 or PBTV Fusion channel 1060.

WRLN 105.3 FM is the Red Lake Nation’s first radio station and is a multi-format station that will play almost all genres of music in three hour blocks of different formats including country, rock, pop, pow-wow, etc.  The station also provides news stories, local weather updates and sports information to let people know what is going on in the community and the positive news that comes out of Red Lake.

“We are very excited to have Red Lake Nation Radio added to Paul Bunyan Television! After a decades long effort to get our own radio station, WRLN 105.3 FM went on the air on Feb 1^st 2022 and the response has been tremendous. People can listen by radio, streaming on WRLN.com and many of our tribal members also have PBTV so now they can listen to us there too!” said Jerry Loud, WRLN General Manager.

“One of the unique features of Paul Bunyan Television is that we provide many of the local radio stations as part of the service.  We’ve heard from many of our customers who appreciate the opportunity to tune in to local radio through their televisions. When we heard about Red Lake Nation Radio going on the air we started working with them to get it on. It’s great to now have WRLN 105.3 FM a part of PBTV service!” said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

Paul Bunyan Television is the only provider in the region offering local radio stations as part of the television service lineup which includes over 20 radio stations and Radio Talking Book services for the visually impaired.