Work Culture Award
Team Dream
Shentel Gives Back to the Community and Its Employees
By John Saavedra
Shentel, which operates a network across eight states in the eastern United States, is providing more than just broadband to the communities it serves. The company has built a work culture that emphasizes giving back, via charitable initiatives and development programs designed to help employees continue to grow in their careers, as well as an environment where every voice matters.
“When we talk about Shentel’s culture, we use the motto ‘Win together.’ That means working collaboratively as a team, but it also means balancing the needs of our shareholders, our customers and our employees, making sure that they’re all shared in mutual success,” says COO Ed McKay, who has been at Shentel for 20 years, first joining the company as a manager on the technology team. He calls his time at Shentel a “fun, very rewarding ride.”
At the center of Shentel’s approach is a positive people philosophy, according to CHRO Heather Tormey, who says “part of that is how we communicate, being very deliberate about that, and also providing meaningful opportunities for people to engage with each other.”
One of the company’s key communication and engagement forums is “Coffee Talk,” where executive leaders visit communities and sit down for intimate, face-to-face chat sessions with local employees, who are also encouraged to provide direct feedback on the business. Tormey describes these regular talks as “deliberate inflection points,” the place to discuss “what’s working well, what do we need to improve on.”
Employees can also take advantage of development programs, such as “Shentel University,” a guest lecture series designed to teach new skills and leadership training. McKay also highlights Shentel’s educational assistance program, which has helped numerous employees earn degrees.
Most impressive is the company’s Shentel Cares program, which encompasses both donation drives that raised over $35,000 for various organizations in 2024 as well as volunteer opportunities focused on combating housing insecurity and nutritional insecurity in local communities. This summer, the company also launched “Shentel Caring Days,” volunteer events where employees sign up to work with one of Shentel’s partner organizations. According to Tormey, past events have included “stuffing backpacks full of food at the food bank. Or there was one at a school up in Frederick, Maryland, and we were teaching the kids how to cook and to think about nutrition from a different perspective.” Shentel regularly works with Habitat for Humanity and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
McKay says that these volunteer events are “a great way for our employees and our leaders to work side by side to help these communities. I can say, personally, it’s been very rewarding to not only help the communities, but also work with our employees and get to know them better at the local level.”
When asked what companies must do to ensure their employees feel supported and excited to come to work, Tormey says they need to “provide an environment where people feel empowered, feel included, and that they have a voice.” McKay adds “creating an environment of mutual trust and respect, and really giving employees an opportunity to develop and grow. I’m a prime example of that. The opportunities Shentel has given me, I’m very grateful for those.”
Fast Fax
- Shentel owns an extensive regional network with over 17,200 route miles of fiber enabling, broadband internet, video, voice, high-speed Ethernet, dark fiber leasing and managed network services.
- Shentel broadband homes passed have grown 128,000 (Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2025) to approximately 604,000, including 363,000 Glo Fiber passings and 241,000 incumbent broadband passings.
- Glo Fiber data customers have grown 51% (Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2025) to approximately 71,000.