Meet Our Staff | Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company

Management

Pat McElroy

General Manager / CEO

Oh, the adventures of Pat. Pat was left on the roadside in Canada for 3 hours when he was only 10. Turns out the Canadians didn’t want him either. He also lost a tooth when it got caught on the net while dunking a basketball. OUCH! He also can sing every song from, “The Sound of Music”.

Cliff Woodbury

Operations Manager

Cliff was stationed in Hanau, Germany with the U.S. Army for 2 years. He received his bachelor’s degree at the age of 37. He’s been to the Sturgis motorcycle rally 15 times!

Jeff Herfel

Plant Manager

Jeff went skydiving 2 weeks before he got married in 1986. His then fiancée put the wedding on hold until he landed safely. They’re still married.

Alyssa Arens

Controller

When Alyssa was in college, she booked a trip from a scam that came across on the fax machine. 1 week at a condo in Kissimmee, FL for only $199! She called 2 days before the trip to make sure everything was in order, and they didn’t have a reservation for her group. Surprisingly though, they ended up rebooking her in a bigger condo!

Melissa Lanzourakis

Marketing Manager

In the late 90’s Melissa did extra work in Southern California for movies and TV shows. The most notable movie where she can be seen is “Almost Famous” starring Kate Hudson.

Customer Service Representatives

Our friendly and knowledgeable Customer Service Representatives are waiting for you to give them a call at 888.397.4321 to set up a new NNTC service. You may also email them at nntc@nntc.net Meet NNTC’s Customer Service Representatives.

Trish Varenhorst

Billing / Customer Service Supervisor

Trish once won $5,000 on a $1 scratch ticket.

Trista Nelson

Customer Service Representative

Trista loves camping, bonfire and kayaking.

Lisa Nugent

Customer Service Representative

Lisa’s great-great grandmother is Belle Starr, a notorious American outlaw from the 1800’s. Starr later became a popular character in television and movies.

Patty Roeber

Customer Service Representative

Patty is your quintessential “farm wife”. Patty hunts, raises hogs, cleans barns, castrates pigs, operates a skid loader, and knows how to drive a tractor or a straight truck. Patty is no joke! But don’t let that scare you, she’s sweet as can be on our phones!

Therese Scherer

Customer Service Representative - Clarks

Therese loves to listen to Classic Country. Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Hank Williams Jr. and Waylon Jennings are her favorites! She’s a country girl who loves to spend the summers driving around in her pick-up truck with the windows down.

Combo Technicians

Combo Technicians connect NNTC services in your home or business. Meet your Combo Techs and the areas they serve.

Larry Bates

Combo Tech - Craig and Decatur

Larry was voted, “Top Hard Nose” by his high school football teammates. He was never very big, but he was known as being “dangerous” out on the field. He played games with sprained ankles and bloody hands! YIKES!

David Burcham

Combo Tech - Maskell, Newcastle, Obert and Coleridge

David has worked for NNTC since 1998.

Dan Cloud

Combo Tech - Dixon, Jackson, Hubbard and Concord

Dan gets his adrenaline rush from going to waterparks. His favorite waterpark is Oceans of Fun in Kansas City.

Brian Eberle

Combo Tech - Clarks, Staplehurst and Ulysses

Brian received two 3rd place medals, two 4th place medals and two 5th place medals while running track at state in high school. His specialties were the 100 and 200-meter dash. He turned in his tennis shoes for a motorcycle and does most of his “training” that way these days.

Dean Fischer

Combo Tech - North Bristow (SD), Bristow, Butte and Spencer

Dean grew up on a farm and attended a two-room schoolhouse, 4 miles from home, from Kindergarten through 8th grade. He often WALKED to and from school. He also got in trouble a lot for talking too much.

Jack Fisher

Combo Tech - Linwood, Morse Bluff, Weston, Malmo and Prague

When Jack was in high school, he starred in a PSA alongside Dick Vitale. If you follow college basketball at all, then you would know Dicky V! The PSA was only released in the eastern time zone.

Brandon Heller

Combo Tech – Long Pine and Stuart

Brandon ran cross country and track for 1 year in high school (his senior year). He made it to state in both sports during that single year.

Brett Koeppe

Combo Tech – Allen, Martinsburg, Waterbury and Winside

Brett has worked for NNTC since 1998.

Barry Stearns

Combo Tech – Clearwater and Bartlett

Barry is a licensed pilot! Barry also loves to fish and smoke food.

Accountants

The “number” folks. Our accounting staff is responsible for maintaining all accounts at NNTC. Meet our accounting staff.

Kathryn Crosgrove

Accounts Payable

Kathryn was on her high school’s basketball team. She once scored 2 points, right after half-time… FOR THE OTHER TEAM! Luckily, the only one who noticed was the other coach. We promise she’s much better at numbers than basketball!

Nick Niehus

Accountant

Nick knows how to ride a unicycle. He learned in middle school. He does own his own unicycle.

Angie Urwiler

Accountant

Angie loves Holiday Barbie! She has nearly every Holiday Barbie since 1988. She’s only missing 2005 and 2008.

Paula Wendte

Administrative Assistant

When Paula was 5 she was riding with her dad. As they approached a 4-way stop over the rumble bars, Paula asked what they were for. He told her, “So people are aware a stop is coming up,” to which she replied “Oh you mean when blind people are driving.” From that point forward they were called Paula Bars.

Construction Crew

Our construction crew are the ones behind our buried fiber lines. With over 3,000 miles of buried fiber in Northeast Nebraska, these guys know how to dig. They also oversee troubleshooting equipment on site. Meet the construction crew.

Ryan Beacom

Construction Supervisor

Ryan has a plate and 8 screws in his ankle from “kicking a broom”. When asked for further explanation, his comment was, “long story”.

Blake Eriksen

Plant Construction Worker

Blake is the grandson of Terry Eriksen who worked in NNTC management for over 40 years.

Charley Green

Plant Construction Worker

Charley has been to 14 different countries thanks to his love and travel and his time spent in the military.

Gunner Tracy

Plant Construction Worker

Gunner has worked for NNTC since 2019.

Technical Staff

Matt Muessigmann

Central Office Tech & Combo Tech - Linwood, Morse Bluff, Weston, Malmo and Prague

Matt’s first car was a 1987 Plymouth Horizon with a 2.2 Turbo engine. Its name was Philip.

Kurt Mullins

Central Office Technician

Kurt was in a rock band called “The Rage” in the 90’s. He decided to go back to school when he realized he wanted a steadier “gig”.

Jeff Preston

Network Engineer

Jeff purchased the car of his dreams (a Pontiac Fiero) in Illinois. He and his wife flew there with the intent of driving the car home. It ended up breaking down in the small town of Woodstock. They were stranded there for two days, waiting for a part. As they were walking down main street, they suddenly realized they were in the town where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed.

Mark Krug

IT Specialist

Mark comes from a family of 8 kids. The oldest being 47 the youngest is 22 years old. He’s right in the middle. He has never been in a movie.