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Monday, June 26, 2017

A bit of good Mi-Connection news...David Auger to stay on as CEO

The tenure of Mi-Connection CEO David Auger has been one of the few bright spots in the whole saga of the municipally owned cable company, so when Auger announced last year that he would be retiring, that was going to surely leave a big leadership gap in the company.  Adding to the uncertainty, little to nothing had been said about the search for his replacement.

With the announced end date of June 30th rapidly approaching, last week aShortChronicle asked the public information officers for Davidson and Mooresville if there was any update.  Monday, that update came in the form of a press release on the next Mi-Connection Board meeting later this week.

Here it is (emphasis added)...

The MI-Connection Board of Directors will hold a meeting on Wednesday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Davidson Town Hall board room to appoint and re-appoint board members, elect officers for FY 2017-2018, approve minutes from the April meeting, and approve the final recast of the FY 2017 budget. This meeting was originally scheduled for Thursday, June 29. This meeting is open to the public.

Additionally, the MI-Connection Board of Directors requested that David Auger continue in his CEO role for the foreseeable future and he agreed. Auger was originally scheduled to retire June 30.

The next quarterly meeting of the MI-Connection Board of Directors is scheduled for August 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Davidson Town Hall board room. This meeting is open to the public.

While it is definitely good news that Auger will stay on for the time being, it also makes one wonder if the reasons why included not able to find a good replacement.  Looking at the Mi-Connection overall situation it is not hard seeing that being the case.

If you just looked at the bottom line, the company looks like it's still in need of a turnaround specialist.  However, that would be too much of a simplification.  Under Auger's tenure the company has attained EBITDA percentages at or above industry averages.  Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation Amortization is a measure of operational performance.  The Auger years have seen operations brought back in house from an outsourcing vendor.  The outstanding debt has been refinanced.  The company has also achieved high penetration rates in new developments like the one at Langtree.  Effectively, David Auger has been the turnround specialist and operationally he has achieved a lot.  At this point, the proactive steps to fundamentally improve the company that can be taken have been.

What is hammering the bottom line is servicing the outstanding debt.   Other than selling the company, the only way out of that debt burden now is a risky, long hard slog of significant growth through competition in a marketplace growing more competitive by the day.

It is not hard to see it being difficult to find someone who wants that job.

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