Kirk Smith has served on the Board of Directors of Consolidated Telephone Company since 2017.
Smith has lived in the Outing area since 1982 and has been the President and General Manager of Land O’Lakes Marine for the past 37 years. Before that, he was the Owner/Operator of Smith’s Country Store.
Smith is a past Board Member of Shamineau Ministries in Motley and an Elder at the Crosslake Evangelical Free Church. Smith is retired with 30 years of combined service in the EMS and Outing Volunteer Fire Department. Smith also holds a director’s certification from the NTCA Rural Broadband Association.
In his free time, he enjoys fishing.
Smith and his wife Dee have two children and five grandchildren.
Amanda Lowe
Vice Chairperson – District Three
Amanda Lowe has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2018.
Lowe comes to CTC with 15 years of telecommunications experience. Lowe and her husband own several businesses in Aitkin, including Block North Brew Pub, Aitkin Flowers, and The Beanery.
Lowe is active with the Aitkin City Park Committee, the Downtown Retail Committee, and various organizations. Lowe currently sits on the WTA’s Scholarship Committee and is a St. James Catholic Church member.
Lowe and her husband Peter live in Aitkin and have three children.
Kathleen Kobliska
Treasurer – District One
Kathy Kobliska has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 1998.
Kobliska was President from 2019-2022, Vice Chairperson from 2013-2014, and Treasurer from 2003-2010 and 2014-2016.
Kobliska has lived in the Lincoln area and owned and operated Kathy’s Kut & Kurl of Lincoln for the past 39 years. Kobliska is a Lincoln Area Business Association member and an election judge for Fawn Lake Township in Todd County. Kobliska is a Faith Lutheran Church member.
She enjoys ice fishing, deer hunting, traveling, and camping in her free time.
Kobliska and her husband, Steve, have two sons, three grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.
Chad Converse
Secretary – District Four
Chad Converse has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2013.
Converse grew up in the Outing area and graduated from Remer High School and the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management.
Chad has served on and been a member of numerous organizations, including a supervisor for May Township, the Pillager Area Fire Protection Association, and the Minnesota Forestry Association. Converse has served as Chairperson for the Central Minnesota Small Woodland Owners Association, Society of American Foresters, the Minnesota Association of Consulting Foresters, and Faith Lutheran Church in Staples. He served for six years in the Alaska Army National Guard, where he obtained the rank of Staff Seargent.
Converse worked for the USDA Forest Service for 34 years before retiring as a self-employed consulting forester and farmer.
Converse enjoys outdoor activities, raising horses, and square dancing in his free time.
Converse has two sons and two grandchildren.
Morris Nelson
Director – District One
Morris has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2004 and has held the position of Treasurer from 2010-2014, as Vice Chairperson from 2014-2016, and as Chairperson from 2017-2018.
In addition to the CTC Board of Directors, Morris has been a member of the Masonic Lodge and Bethel Lutheran Church in Little Falls.
Mr. Nelson is retired and has lived in the Randall area his entire life. He worked for Minnesota Power for 21 years and in road construction for 20 years prior to that.
Morris’ interests include motorcycling and working with steam equipment.
Heather Hoskins
Director – District Two
Heather Hoskins has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2021.
Hoskins is a 21-year employee of a prominent local employer who acts as the liaison for their third-party technology vendors. Heather formerly served as the treasurer for the Minnesota High School Rodeo Association – Region 1. She is a member of Holy Cross Church in Harding.
In addition to her full-time job, you’ll find Hoskins helping at her family’s local eatery or working on her small beef farm.
Hoskins is married to her husband Luke, who actively serves in the Minnesota Army National Guard, and they have two children together. They currently reside in Freedhem.
Mike Wetzel
Director – District Four
Mike Wetzel has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2004.
Wetzel retired after owning and operating Wetzel’s Auto Service Center, where he worked for over 50 years. He is also retired from the Cass County Planning Commission and Cass County Board of Adjustment after serving as Chairman for twenty years. Wetzel is a past Master of Aurora Masonic Lodge #100.
Wetzel enjoys cars, being around water, traveling, camping, and woodworking in his free time.
Wetzel and his wife Kathy have eight children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Leland “Butch” Segler
Director – District Two
Leland has served on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company before. When asked why he is interested in continuing to be on the Board of Directors, he replied “I see CTC is growing and doing great things in the community. I would like to be part of the group that makes good decisions for the industry.”
Leland is on the Bethel Cemetery Board of Directors, the Farm Bureau Board of Directors as well as the Church Council Board of Operations. Although Leland is retired, he continues to run his tire shop which he’s owned for 50+ years.
Mr. Segler has lived most of his life in the Nokay Lake area with his wife Rose Mary. Leland has 2 grown children and 10 grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his friends and family and volunteers for the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen, for his church and other organizations he supports.
Tyler Glynn
Director – District Five
Tyler Glynn has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2023.
Glynn and his family moved to the Nisswa area in May 2015. He is the Executive Director of the Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corporation (BLAEDC) and has worked there since 2016.
He serves on the Lakes Area Unity Way Board of Directors and the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation board.
Glynn follows two of his daughters around with sports and activities, spends time on the lake, and loves to play golf in his free time.
Glynn and his wife Michelle have three daughters and one grandson.
Nate Thiesse
Director – District Five
Nate Thiesse has been on the Board of Directors at Consolidated Telephone Company since 2023.
Thiesse is a Brainerd High School graduate and attended Central Lakes College for two years. He moved out of the area in 2000 and returned in 2013.
Thiesse has worked in the architecture department at Widseth for the past six years.
He volunteers at St. Andrews Church as a High School Faith Formation teacher, a Board Director for the Crow Wing County Historical Society, and a Boy Scout Troup 45 Merritt Badge Counselor.
Thiesse enjoys spending time with family and watching the Vikings and NASCAR in his free time.
Thiesse lives on the family farm south of Brainerd with his wife Rebecca, and they have six children.
CTC Officers
Kristi Westbrock
Chief Executive Officer & General Manager
Kristi Westbrock holds the position of Chief Executive Officer/General Manager of CTC, with 26 years of industry experience—and has been with the cooperative since 2007. Westbrock is a South Dakota State University graduate and has gained industry training in technology, regulatory, business operations, and product development.
Kristi has a passion for organizational management and effective communication, along with creating unique work environments all while driving business revenues. Westbrock has had an integral role in the development and partnerships with new opportunities at CTC in the past ten years, including electric cooperatives, tribal nations, and municipalities.
Westbrock was the 2022 appointee of Chairwoman Rosenworcel to serve in the Interagency Working Group to submit proof to Congress on Workforce Development in the United States. Westbrock has served on numerous local and state committees, and board of directors within the telecommunications industry, in addition to being a trustee on a national board.
Greg Springer
Chief Financial Officer
Greg Springer holds the position of Chief Financial Officer with 24 years of industry experience—and has been with the cooperative since 2008. Springer graduated from Bemidji State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. Prior to joining CTC, Springer spent six years with Midwest Information Systems, and two years at Rural Cellular Corporation.
Springer is responsible for all accounting functions, end-user billing, CABS processing, financing, budgeting, and all financial reporting, and supervises the finance team. Springer serves in the role of Treasurer on the Board of Directors for Central Transport Group, LLC, and for the non-profit Smiles for Jake. Springer also serves on the Board of Directors of the Brainerd Family YMCA. Springer has been active in coaching youth sports and is also a youth sports official.
