UPDATE: December 17, 2020 – James Shumate’s obituary and services information have been added below. December 16, 2020 — A 24-year-old tower technician was killed Saturday, December 12, 2020 when he fell from a tower near Fruitland, Washington. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, James Everette Shumate of Houston, Texas was at approximately 260 feet on the structure while …
Alabama accident takes the life of a Texas broadcast tall tower tech
A broadcast tower technician employed by San Antonio, Texas-based Broadcast Construction Solutions died yesterday shortly before noon in Elsanor, Alabama while performing retrofitting services on a 1,500-foot guyed tower owned by Deerfield Media that broadcasts WJTC TV. Wireless Estimator has confirmed that the deceased broadcast worker is Sirous Snider, 33, of Burleson, Texas, a well-respected and popular poster on Facebook. …
Make a difference while you shop — Support the Tower Family Foundation through AmazonSmile
Anytime you place an order on Amazon.com you have an opportunity to raise money for the Tower Family Foundation through the AmazonSmile program. AmazonSmile allows you to make a difference while you shop! A portion of any eligible purchases will go to your chosen charity each time you shop. This program is free to participate in and does not change …
Towercos should consider a contribution instead of a pricey plaque
Unlike phony ego-boosting vanity award scams and paid articles, Wireless Estimator’s Top 100 Tower Companies in the U.S. is the real deal. It’s a list of the industry’s top tower companies who have successfully built or acquired 10 or more macro towers. Their achievements are well known and applauded in a challenging environment. However, a Connecticut wall plaque company is …
Tower Family Foundation Endowment Committee welcomes industry execs Moras and Haldane
The Tower Family Foundation announced today two leadership appointments to the non-profit organization’s Endowment Committee. Shylesh Moras, Senior Vice President, Operations, Development & IT at Phoenix Tower International in Boca Raton, Florida and Andy Haldane, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Tower Engineering Professionals in Raleigh, North Carolina, have been appointed to serve on the Tower Family Foundation Endowment Committee. …
Drouin, Coleman, Lekutis to lead Tower Family Foundation as it aids wireless workers, their families
The Tower Family Foundation announced today the non-profit organization’s Executive Board Member leadership team for 2020. Victor Drouin, President of Green Mountain Communications, Inc. in Pembroke, New Hampshire, was elected to serve as the new President of the Tower Family Foundation Board of Directors. As President, Drouin replaces Jim Tracy from Legacy Telecommunications, LLC. in Gig Harbor, Washington, whose Board …
NATE Raleigh show was alight with donations to the Tower Family Foundation
The NATE UNITE 2020 conference last week in Raleigh, North Carolina showcased numerous companies that made donations to the Tower Family Foundation, a non-profit charitable support arm for tower workers injured or killed in an accident stemming from working at heights on communications structures or other on the job related activities. During an exhibit hall presentation, SAC Wireless presented the …
NATE and Tower Family Foundation award their Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and Tower Family Foundation today jointly announced that Elijah Sullivan, a junior civil engineering student from Evansville, Indiana has been named as the 2020 recipient of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. The official announcement was made at the NATE Awards and Sponsor Recognition Luncheon …
Borghei, Chase and Vink appointed to guide Tower Family Foundation’s visibility and outreach
The Tower Family Foundation announced today appointments to the non-profit organization’s leadership team. Bernard Borghei and Eric Chase have been chosen to serve on the foundation’s Board of Directors and Monica Vink has been appointed to the organization’s Endowment Committee. Borghei and Chase will help provide overall governance and stewardship to the Foundation and play a leading role enhancing the …
AOWA’s poker tournament’s big winners were the Tower Family Foundation and Folds of Honor Foundation
At a meeting of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Wireless Association (AOWA), a presentation check was presented to the Tower Family Foundation for $15,000. The association provided the funds last November but recently presented the honorary over-sized check to the foundation. Pictured above, are (left to right) Steve Manuel, AOWA President, Willie Goldman, Tower Family Foundation Endowment Committee member; Todd Williams, AOWA Board …
Tower Family Foundation, students and the Fallen Seven Harley rider fund benefit from NEWA tourney
The New England Wireless Association (NEWA) on Thursday presented the Tower Family Foundation with a generous donation to help fund their outreach programs. The foundation assists in providing financial assistance to family members of a severely injured, permanently disabled, or deceased tower worker injured or killed in an accident stemming from working at heights on communication structures or other on …
Tower Family Foundation awarded $295K to climbers in 2019 and needs your support
The Tower Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is encouraging all wireless industry companies and stakeholders to make an end of year tax-deductible donation to the organization prior to December 31, 2019. All contributions to the Tower Family Foundation are granted directly to eligible tower workers and/or their families to help assist them in paying for their immediate needs and …
Employer of inexperienced 1099 tower tech who died Saturday was laden with OSHA violations
Neither OSHA nor Oktibbeha County authorities have released the employer’s name of 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas who passed away on Saturday after falling from a 348-foot self-supporting tower that was being erected in Longview, Mississippi, but according to knowledgeable sources, the company was Pegasus Tower, Inc., an OSHA citation-laden company from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Pegasus …
Sixth 2019 tower tech death was kept quiet for over six weeks
After six weeks of investigating leads, Wireless Estimator has confirmed that an 18-year-old tower technician working on an AT&T installation project fell from a New Jersey monopole and died upon impact. The New York resident’s death had not been reported in local, social or industry media and most likely would have been kept private by the worker’s company and the …
Tower techs and families are major benefactors of T-Mobile’s 6th annual golf tournament
T-Mobile hosted its 6th Annual Invitational Golf Tournament on Wednesday, July 24 in Newcastle, Washington. At the event, T-Mobile and the event’s 41 industry sponsors continued their generous track record by presenting $235,000 directly to the Tower Family Foundation (TFF). Funds totaling upward of $1 million have now been distributed to TFF and Warriors4Wireless through the tournament’s five years of …
BACOM updates information on deceased California tech who fell in Nevada
To clarify the misinformation that has appeared on social and other media regarding a recent industry fatality, Broken Arrow Communications, Inc.’s (BACOM) President, Dan Filler, has provided a statement to Wireless Estimator: “On July 11, 2019, Joel Miller, a Broken Arrow Communications, Inc. employee lost his life following a fall from a tower near Sparks, Nevada. “Joel was a father …
California tower foreman passes in Nevada after falling off a 253-foot tower
OSHA is investigating the industry’s fifth tower climber fatality in 2019 after a Pittsburg, California man fell from a Nevada self-supporting tower on Thursday, July 11. Wireless Estimator has confirmed that Joel Joaquin Miller, age 41, passed away when he fell from an American Tower 253-foot self-supporting tower in Patrick, Nevada, east of Interstate 80. Miller, a seasoned tower climber, …
It’s never too soon to sign up for the Tower Family Foundation golf event
You can get an early start to your 2020 golf season by hitting the links and participating in the Tower Family Foundation Golf Event! This exciting golf outing will take place on Thursday, February 20, 2020 at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, North Carolina. This event is powered by NATE’s Wireless Industry Network (WIN) and all proceeds raised …
Services set for tall tower technician Kevin Wright of Indiana who passed away last week
Services have been announced for Kevin D. Wright of Evansville, Indiana, who passed away on May 22, 2019 after falling from a tower in Polk County, Iowa while performing restoration services for KDSM FOX as an employee of Precision Communications, Inc. of Grove, Oklahoma. Kevin was born in Randolph County, Indiana on October 23, 1971, to David H. and Sandra (Arnold) …
Tower Family Foundation appoints Willie Goldman to its Endowment Committee
The Tower Family Foundation announced today that Willie Goldman, Southeastern Regional Business Development Manager for Drake Lighting, LLC, has been appointed to serve on the Foundation’s Endowment Committee. The Tower Family Foundation made the announcement at the Connect (X) 2019 Conference that is taking place this week in Orlando, Fla. “The Tower Family Foundation is excited to continue to expand our …
