CHAT

 

 

 

Blue CTTC Fiber Stickers Storm San Saba

Remote, hybrid, flexible, and work-from-home are all terms that have seriously entered the conversation now that the global pandemic has permanently changed workplace culture. A recent study from Pew Research Center found that 23 percent of employees teleworked before the coronavirus outbreak. As of January 2022, 60 percent now report working from home. The survey revealed these workers didn’t opt to work remotely because they are afraid of getting sick, but rather they feel more productive and like being able to maintain a robust work-life balance. As this trend increases, so does the opportunity to live somewhere more affordable and/or comfortable. But instead of location, location, location, now it is all about internet, internet, internet! With the help of CTTC’s high-speed fiber internet connections, San Saba has uniquely positioned itself as an ideal town to save money while staying on the grid. 

“There’s no need for a fortune-teller to see there are more sweatpants and hoodies in our future than suit jackets and starched shirts.”
Chicago Sun Times

Remote Benefits

It’s not just introverts who aren’t excited about returning to an office. There are many reasons why working from home can be valuable to all:

  • Less time on the road: The average one-way commuting time in the U.S. is 27.1 minutes – that’s nearly an hour each day spent getting to and from work, and it really adds up. According to the Auto Insurance Center, commuters spend about 100 hours commuting and 41 hours stuck in traffic each year. 
  • Greater productivity: Think of what you could accomplish in the time it takes to get ready and drive to work in the morning. Not to mention the time spent chatting with coworkers and dealing with office politics. Home offices provide quieter workplaces with far fewer distractions. 
  • A cleaner environment: Fewer cars on the road is directly related to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing commutes is one of the fastest and easiest ways to reduce pollution. 
  • Money saved: It has been estimated that you could save anywhere from $2,000 to $6,500 a year by not spending on things such as gas, car maintenance, work clothes, lunches out, daycare, etc. 
  • Greater job satisfaction: Because remote jobs are often more flexible, workers have more control over their schedules, an invaluable asset when attending to the needs of your personal life. As long as your work is executed properly by the deadline, why not determine when your day begins and ends?
  • Happier, healthier work-life: Working from home has been proven to lower stress, improve personal relationships, and allow more time for hobbies and fitness. Overall, employees are much happier in remote environments, an observation validated by the 72 percent of employers who report WFH has a high impact on employee retention, according to Global Workplace Analytics

Considerably, one of the greatest advantages to working from home is the ability to live in a much more affordable location. With home prices skyrocketing in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston, more and more people are relocating away from the city. The Austin Board of Realtors recently released the average price of a home in Austin has reached $624,000. Meanwhile, the median is only $235,000 in the Texas Hill Country. For many, it has become not only a no-brainer but a necessity to move to smaller towns. 

San Saba is a CTTC Fiber Community

Before getting too excited about potential savings, remote work is reliant on one very important factor – a stable, reliable, and fast internet connection. The rural divide is no myth, most smaller towns do not have the broadband access necessary to conduct business and keep up with modern technology. You can barely scroll through Instagram, much less conduct digital conference meetings. This is why CTTC is proud to serve the small communities of Central Texas. We love the Texas Hill Country, it is our home, which is why we strive to keep our rural neighbors connected in the same capacity that our urban counterparts enjoy. Fiber internet can be up to 20 times faster than standard cable, a service we are currently providing to nearly twenty different small towns here in Texas, including the Pecan Capital of the World – San Saba. 

San Saba is a terrific town for teleworking, whether you are just passing through and want to set up shop at the local coffee house, or if you are looking to lay down those more affordable roots mentioned earlier. Beginning June 2, 2022, CTTC is launching its CTTC Fiber Community Stickers. The purpose of this program is to provide both visitors and residents with knowledge of where to access CTTC’s high-speed fiber internet while out and about in downtown San Saba. If you look around, you’ll notice bright blue stickers in the windows of most downtown businesses. These stickers are your indication that particular business offers CTTC high-speed internet access to its customers. These are ideal locations to send emails, access the web, and conduct business operations. Simply scan the QR code on the sticker to access a diverse list of CTTC fiber internet hosts, including:

Restaurants

Oliver & Company 

Pecan House Grill 

Pepperbelly’s Mexican Restaurant  

Hotels and Rental Properties

Aunt M’s Illustrated Inn 

Burnham’s Lodging 

Dofflemyer Hotel 

The Harwood House 

The Ragsdale 

Stone Oak Cottage 

Boutiques and Shops

Alamo Pecan & Coffee 

Prynt Shop 

Switch Salon Spa & Boutique 

Armadillo Laundry 

Other

San Saba Chamber of Commerce 

San Saba First United Methodist Church 

Take Advantage of Rural Fiber

Though the pandemic may have been the catalyst for remote work for many millions of employees around the world, it’s far from the only reason to work from home. Look around your tiny, expensive apartment or overcrowded home and think bigger! Because of CTTC’s high-speed fiber internet connections, you can get away from the big city while keeping your remote working lifestyle in the fast lane. Take your newfound freedom somewhere that benefits your future – somewhere like San Saba! And stay tuned for the spread of more CTTC Fiber Community stickers throughout rural Texas.

 

 

 

The Christmas Countdown Has Begun

We are only a few days away from Christmas, and of course, we have last-minute shopping on our minds. At CTTC, we work with well over a dozen hill country communities and most of the people in our communities depend on small local businesses to provide what is needed for their families, especially when it is a last-minute need. So we wanted to highlight a couple of our favorite small businesses offering great last-minute gift ideas.

 

The Importance of Shopping Local

According to Sustainable Connections, 58% of every $100 spent at a locally owned business recirculates and remains in the local economy. Whereas only 14% of funds spent with national retailers make their way back to the local economy. This is a really important statistic for small towns because even the slightest shift away from local businesses can have a major impact on city economics. Not to mention that when it comes to service, you cannot beat being able to walk in and get expert advice first hand from someone who has been hired to get to know their products and build relationships within the community. Small businesses donate 250% more per employee to local charitable causes than large, national competitors. So now that you know why to shop local, here are a couple of our last-minute picks:

 

Photo: pecans.com

Pecans.com

Pecans.com is located in Goldthwaite, Texas and provides gourmet pecans, pies, honey butter, preservatives, and lots of great gift baskets. Pecans.com does a great deal of business online, thanks to having lightning-fast internet from CTTC, but also has a retail storefront, as well as some products being available at Schwartz Food Store and McMahan Pharmacy in Goldthwaite.

Pecans.com is a CCOF, USDA and Kosher certified organic pecan shelling facility and is one of the few organic pecan shelling facilities in Texas.

Although the Pecans.com namesake itself was unrealized until the 1990s, the history of the company dates back to around 1971. It all began when owner DeWayne McCasland and his father, Homer McCasland, decided to purchase a ranch in Mills County to raise cattle.

“We were cowboys who raised chickens, turkeys, goats, sheep and cattle,” DeWayne recalls.  “We didn’t know anything about growing pecans. We bought this place, and it had lots of trees on it. It looked pretty and we thought we’d take care of it.” The next year they gathered the nuts and realized they were more profitable to sell than cattle.

Here are a few pecan-themed gift suggestions from pecans.com:

So check out the pecans.com website, they ship all over the USA, for last-minute ideas, or if you are in Goldthwaite, visit their retail store for pecans, gift baskets, and much more.

 

Photo: Fiesta Winery

FIESTA VINEYARD AND WINERY

Over the last decade, there has been a boom in the Texas wine industry. While California is still the king of wine consumption in the United States, Texas is now 4th in overall wine consumption. With Texans consuming over 60,000 gallons of wine in 2018 according to statista.com, it is no wonder wineries and vineyards are popping up all over the hill country.

One of our favorites is Fiesta Vineyard and Winery in Bend, Texas. Fiesta Winery has multiple locations, but Bend is the heart of the Fiesta Winery brand; it is the homestead of the Baxter Ranch (which has been in the family for six generations). It is located near the Colorado Bend River and is where all of their great-tasting, award-winning wines are bottled.

The Fiesta Estate Vineyard was planted in 2010, with grapes that were selected for the Texas climate and soils. Over time, the vineyard has produced a wide variety of wines and countless award-winners. Visit any of the locations for a guided wine tasting or attend one of the many events; you quickly will become a Fiesta fan! Fiesta also has a quarterly Wine Club (a great gift idea) with three different tiers that suit all levels of wine drinkers.

Here are a few fun recommendations by Fiesta for the holiday season:

  • Sweet Dreams (Seasonal – This sweet red wine is silky and smooth with a full finish. Full of the aroma of sweet, ripe raspberry.)
  • Christmas Cheer (This rich red wine offers delightful notes of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg.)
  • Heart of Texas Red (Full-bodied blend of Tannat and Primitivo gives this wine an Old World feel with luxurious tannins and soft black raspberry.)

For last-minute gifts, you can shop their online store, or visit any of their locations in Bend, Fredericksburg, or Marble Falls.

Fiber Internet Makes Small Business More Powerful

Pecans.com and Fiesta Vineyard and Winery depend on their CTTC fiber internet connection to reliably support their online businesses. Whether it is the shipping of shelled pecans all over the USA, or online events and wine club sales, our CTTC small business customers have an advantage thanks to our reliable fiber internet connection that is over twice as fast as the competition. It makes online selling easy and helps small businesses compete in the global marketplace and our small businesses help put our small Texas towns on the map!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from CTTC!

At CTTC, we are proud to serve local businesses in our community and we hope that you will give them your support for holiday gift-giving. Merry Christmas from all of us at CTTC and have a Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

Celebrating small business success in rural Texas Hill Country

One of the greatest treasures of smaller communities are the charming independent shops and eateries and personable, friendly service. But, small-town businesses face quite a few challenges that city-based businesses might take for granted. While operating costs are usually lower than a big city – issues like limited foot traffic and market visibility can hinder mom-and-pop growth. More than ever, it’s important to support local small businesses. 

That’s why we’ve invested heavily to connect hundreds of small businesses to regional, national and global markets through high-speed fiber internet. From agricultural business to wineries and restaurants to general stores and salons, our top-tier telecommunications network is an integral part of their success.  

 

 

Connecting rural small business with the world

Our comprehensive telecommunications packages support local businesses across 17 rural Texas exchanges. Our broadband network is fast and reliable – a tremendous asset to a rural business. Our network supports operations, digital advertising, online presence, logistics and shipping, e-commerce shopping and more running smoothly and seamlessly. As a result, entrepreneurs are well-positioned to grow their business beyond our rural borders in ways that even large Texas cities still do not have available!

Connection matters to our customers and it matters to us. While some of our clients rely strongly on foot traffic earned from digital advertising, others connect national and international customers with some true Texas Hill Country gems. 

 

Oliver Pecan

 

Oliver Pecan is one of our customers who operate a global business. We’re proud to be a small part of powering their success story that has grown from two buckets and 400 trees to a global operation with 30,000 pecan trees. The San Saba-based company has more than 95 percent of their business happening online. CTTC’s reliable network supports operations, marketing, fulfillment and customer service right from down the road. 

 

 

Switch Salon, Spa & Boutique

 

Though they offer exceptional local experiences, Switch Salon, Spa, & Boutique was able to utilize CTTC’s fiber network to successfully build an e-commerce boutique while their physical space was closed during COVID restrictions.  

“Our website generates a lot of sales for us,” says Terra Gardner, owner of Switch Salon. “And thanks to CTTC’s exceptional network, we were connected with customers in a virtual store through social distancing. It made a huge difference and helped us get through the other side of this year.” 

 

 

Mills County General Store & Ace Hardware

 

While the personal connections made in-store are strong as ever, having a communications network that supports voice and email enables stores like Mills County General Store & Ace Hardware to offer outstanding customer service that small towns are known for. 

It’s these stories that really give us here at CTTC a deep sense of pride. When our cooperative was formed back in 1951, we pledged a mission to provide our rural communities with connections and communications that would power their lives – at home and at work. We’re thrilled to contribute to the growing success of these local businesses. 

CTTC connecting small businesses with endless possibilities.