April Chamber Member of the Month: Eastern Telephone & Technologies

Pulling into Eastern Telephone & Technology’s parking lot, the building is nondescript and low key, tucked away behind the UPIKE Sports Plex in Coal Run Village. Walking in, the front waiting area seems like any other, quiet, brightly lit, I see several awards displayed that the company has earned, one of them I recognized: the 2023 Lon B. & Mary Evelyn Rogers Lifetime Achievement Award that Eastern Telephone President Darrell Maynard won at the Chamber’s last Annual Awards Night. Something grabs my attention: speed-walking down the hall comes Karen Roberts Prater rushing to greet me with a big hug and a warm “Hello!”

Karen corrals everyone in the office to come have their picture taken. We have Darrell Maynard, the head honcho, who, by the way, is the reason we here in Eastern Kentucky still have the 606-area code, but I’m getting ahead of myself. More on that later.

Frank Dawahare, Director of Customer Relations, also joins for the picture, along with several others of the office staff; all jokingly complaining about having their picture taken, but Karen tells them to suck it up and smile. 3…2…1…*snap* “Okay we’re done, everyone get back to work!”

The energy in the office is a balance of serious work, and jubilant fun. In my experience, it’s hard to NOT have fun around Darrell and Karen. The two took me on a tour around the office, where they showed off ancient telephones and telegraphs, as well as Darrell’s very first telephone that he had when he first started Eastern Telephone & Technologies, over 40 years ago—still in its box and in pristine condition.  We also played around on the old switchboard, with Karen pretending to be the operator!

Darrell Maynard started Eastern Telephone & Technologies in the early 80’s to provide commercial telephone systems and computer services to businesses throughout Eastern Kentucky. The company is Appalachian through-and-through—when asked about their vision, they said, “Eastern strives to provide technology solutions by serving the business community the service they deserve without reliance on outsiders who do not have a vested interest in our community and who sometimes do not specifically understand our heritage.”

Appalachia is a special place, and Darrell Maynard understands that. Back in the 90’s when the big telephone companies wanted to change our area code, he stepped in to make sure that didn’t happen. Here’s how the story goes:

During Governor Paul Patton’s Administration around the year 1998, Darrell heard of the situation in which the 502-area code would be split between the Louisville Metro area and Southwestern Kentucky.  Realizing that the 606-area code could likely be next, he began to advocate for Eastern Kentucky to keep the 606-area code.  He discussed his concerns with then-Pike County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kitty Baird who shared his concerns.  He then made arrangements to meet with Governor Patton to discuss this, as well as the representative from the Public Service Commission and basically anyone else who would listen.

The new 859-area code was assigned on August 9, 1999, and went into service on April 1, 2000 being located in the city of Lexington and the central portion of Kentucky; thus allowing all of Eastern Kentucky to remain in the 606-area code.

So today, be a little extra proud of our 606-area code that we call home. And whenever you dial those three digits, be sure to think about Darrell Maynard and all those crazy, kooky, hardworking, caring, and dedicated folks over at Eastern Telephone & Technologies.