Birkeland appointed to Golden West Board of Directors

   WALL – Bart Birkeland, retired general manager of the Rosebud Electric Cooperative, has been appointed to the Golden West board of directors.

   Birkeland represents District Seven for the telecommunications cooperative, which expanded from six to nine districts on Jan. 1, 2010. District Seven includes Golden West co-op members who have telephone service in the Bonesteel, Burke, Clearfield, Colome, Gregory, Reliance, Winner and Witten phone exchanges.

  “I thought maybe I could bring some value (to Golden West) with my prior experience,” Birkeland said.

   Golden West General Manager Denny Law said the expansion of the co-op and the Golden West board will help the co-op better serve its members. 

   “At Golden West, our members are our owners and our customers. That’s our strength as a cooperative. This year, we welcomed three new board members along with thousands of new customers. We look forward to continuing to deliver high quality service,” Law said.  

   Golden West is a telecommunications cooperative based in Wall that serves more than 60 South Dakota communities. Golden West provides telephone, Internet and cable TV services via about 38,000 access lines across South Dakota. The company also owns the subsidiaries Golden West Technologies and Golden West Internet Solutions, which offer an array of technology and Internet products and services.