Lisa Cope appointed as new General Manager and CEO

McMinnville, TN August 15, 2016 -- Ben Lomand Connect’s Board President, Dr. J.R. Troop announces that Lisa Cope has been named the new CEO of the cooperative and its subsidiaries.  Cope, with 22 years of service at Ben Lomand, begins her tenure immediately.   Cope’s employment at Ben Lomand began in 1986 in customer service.  She was then sent to the Sparta office by General Manager, Mr. Ozle Allen to work in several departments to “learn telephone” as requested by Mr. Allen.  After obtaining her degree in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from Tennessee Tech University she was part of an expansion in Ben Lomand’s accounting department.   In 2004 she became Controller and has overseen the operations of the accounting department for several years.  
Board President Troop, states, “Lisa is the ideal person to lead Ben Lomand during this transitional time in the telecommunications industry and has served the Company for over 20 years.  We have great confidence in Lisa and know she will work diligently to further advance the Company and help position Ben Lomand to be a leader in the state and nation”. 
Lisa’s father was from Van Buren County, and the family moved there from Ohio when she was in 5th grade.  She has been married nearly 31 years to her husband Mr. Terry Cope and has two daughters, Emily and Elizabeth. 
Lisa has been a Sunday School Teacher at the Bethlehem Church of Christ for 30 years.  She volunteers at the Community Thanksgiving Feast in Spencer and has served on the committee for academic excellence with the Van Buren County School System.
Ben Lomand Connect was incorporated October 2, 1954 to provide local telephone service to rural middle Tennessee. It has over 33,500 access lines covering 3,200 square miles of territory. Ben Lomand began its diversification in 1993 by forming BLC, a wholly owned long distance subsidiary and it was the first competitive local exchange carrier in the state of Tennessee. The cooperative has 20,000 Internet customers with over 5,600 connected with Ben Lomand Fiber.  It serves over 12,600 video customers and 869 security customers.