Polar Awards Technology Grants

Board Approves Construction Bid

Polar Communications recently announced they have awarded three area schools a total of $5,000 in Polar Technology Grants. Polar’s Technology Grant provides funding for K-12 schools enabling the purchase of hardware, software, contracted services and other technologies that target student achievement through technology integration. Applicants were required to submit their proposals, including an overview of their project abstract, goals, narrative, and budget information. Accredited K-12 schools in Polar’s service territory were eligible to apply. Polar Communications awards up to $5000 per year with each grant ranging from $100-$2500. Schools winning the 2009-10 Polar Technology Grants were the following: Cavalier Public School, $2,500 – “Living History – A Walk Into the Past”; Fordville/Lankin Public School, $2,100 – “Inspiring Sweet Music”; Park River Public School - $400 – “ActivSlate”

Photo 1: L-R - Polar Board President Ron Steinke presents grant to Jeana Mack and Kaye Furstenau from Cavalier School. Photo 2: L-R – Fordville/Lankin Superintendent Michael O’Brien accepts grant from Polar Director Jon McMillan.Photo 3: - L-R – Polar Director Ike Meberg presents grant to Park River 1st Grade Teacher Mary Jo Olson and Principal Brenda Nilson, along with some of Mrs. Olson’s 1st graders displaying their ActivSlate.

Polar is proud to invest in our schools and the community providing value for the future!

The Board of Directors of Polar Communications, at a special board meeting on December 22, 2009, approved the 2010 construction bid. The bid was awarded to Arvig Communication Systems of Perham, Minnesota, totaling $3.1 million. The construction bid is a portion of the company’s $8.5 million capital budget for 2010.

The construction will involve installing fiber optic cable to the home. This technology allows Polar to extend services such as voice, high speed Internet, and video farther to reach its most rural customers.

A total of 220 miles of buried cable will be installed within an approximate 6-month period. Construction will be happening in the exchanges of Aneta, Niagara, Petersburg & city of Park River.

“Polar Communications 2010 construction is a continuation of the company’s commitment to provide modern broadband service to 100% of its members.” Dave Dunning, Polar Communications General Manager/CEO

INSIDE:

Spring 2010

PO Box 270Park River, ND 58270www.thinkpolar.com

ConnectionsPublished by Polar Communications and its Subsidiaries

Illegal Downloading - Page 2

Phishing - Page 2

Protect YourData - Page 2

2009 Eagle Award- Page 3

Polar WelcomesRandy Stennes - Page 3

Director Applications - Page 3

Why Buy Local - Page 4

Directory Advertising - Page 4

Great Deals! - Page 5

CPNI Notice - Page 5

Beware of Phishing!Polar is committed to complying with laws relating to intellectual property. Polar requires all customers to comply with U.S. copyright law and other intellectual property laws, as set forth in the Terms & Conditions posted on our website. As a Polar customer you are responsible not only for your own compliance with these laws, but also the compliance of friends, family members and guests who use your service account.

Polar from time to time receives complaints from copyright owners who believe their rights have been infringed by someone using a Polar service account. It is our policy, in accordance with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), and other applicable laws, to reserve the right to terminate the service contract of any customer who is found to infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of third parties, or whom Polar believes, at its sole discretion, to be infringing such rights. Polar will take reasonable measures to notify a customer when a complaint has been received. However, if repeated complaints are received for the same service account, Polar may terminate the service account without further notice of the customer.

Please take the time to make sure that everyone who uses your service account understands Polar’s policy relating to these issues. If you have questions, please refer to the Terms & Conditions posted on our website at www.polarcomm.com.

Illegal Downloading

Search for Polar Communications and become a fan!

There have been several new “phishing” emails going around lately, emails that are meant to look like a legitimate business asking for your personal

information or information on your accounts. Please do not reply to these emails with your information! Polar does send our customers mass email notifications from time to time but we NEVER ask for personal information via email. Delete these “phishing” emails and contact Polar if you have any concerns.

Protect Your Data!Join us on Thursday, April 29th, at 1:00pm for a special online presentation on IT Solutions for your business, presented by Bolt Data Systems, one of the leading providers of electronic data backup services. This presentation will focus on firewalls, data backup, Microsoft Exchange and technical support services offered by Bolt.

This webinar is offered at no charge to Polar business customers. To register contact Kristin Shea at 218.779.7111 or 1.800.284.7222 or by email at kshea@polarcomm.com.

After registering you will receive additional details on how to join the webinar. A computer, access to the Internet and a phone line are required to participate.

2

Polar is excited to announce the recipient of its 2009 Eagle Award as Kyle Halvorson. Kyle began his employment with Polar on November 26, 2007, as an Area Service Representative. His duties include installing and maintaining telephone, cable TV and Internet services. Kyle was nominated for this distinguished award and voted on by his peers based on the following qualifications: goes above and beyond normal job responsibilities, will do whatever it takes to get the job done, provides new and creative ideas, shows outstanding company dedication, demonstrates teamwork and accepts challenges, is involved in the community and/or volunteer work, demonstrates outstanding customer service and/or assistance, and promotes a positive attitude.

2009 Annual Eagle Award

Congratulations on this well-deserved award Kyle!

Welcome Randy!

Applications for the Polar Communications Board of Directors will be accepted for the election to be held during Polar’s Annual Members Meeting on June 10, 2010. Positions to be filled are as follows:

District 1 – Position currently held by Amber Meyer is up for re-election.District 2 – Position currently held by Jon McMillan is up for re-election.District 3 – Position currently held by Greg Steffes is up for re-election.

Polar Board of Directors Nomination Procedure Steps:1. Any qualified member meeting the requirements of Section 3, Article IV of the company by-laws may request an application and petition from the cooperative headquarters. The forms can be picked up at Polar’s front desk or can be found on Polar’s website at www.thinkpolar.com.

2. Members shall submit a completed application and a petition containing a minimum of thirty (30) signatures of cooperative members from the district in which the applicant resides. Please note that a husband and wife constitute one membership. Either spouse may sign the petition as a member, however the signature of a husband and wife on the petition may only be counted as one.

3. Completed applications and petitions should be submitted by March 26, 2010, at 4:00 pm to Polar Communications, Attn: Shari Flanders, PO Box 270, Park River, ND, 58270. Please contact Shari at 701.284.4343 with questions or email sflanders@polartel.com.

4. All nominations by petition are subject to verification. Once verification is complete, the candidate will be notified and their name will appear on the ballot at Polar’s Annual Members Meeting.

To find the service areas that make up each district, please refer to Article IV, Section 2 of the by-laws of Polar Communications found in your telephone directory.

Director Applications

Polar Welcomes Randy StennesRandy Stennes began his employment with Polar on February 1, 2010, as an Area Service Representative covering the Mayville-Portland area. Randy’s duties include installing and maintaining telephone, cable TV and Internet services. Randy received a Telephone Service Technology degree from the Minnesota State Community & Technical College in Wadena. Originally from Erskine, Minnesota, Randy and his wife Eva will reside in Mayville along with their children, Wyatt and Melissa. They have two other grown children, Brittany and Ashley.

3

{Directory Advertising

Sales Executives from Pinnacle Publishing will be in our area soon to begin selling advertising for the official 2010-11 directory. When you advertise in the Polar directory your ad will automatically be featured in our online directory at no additional charge! All website and email addresses are linked. Both the printed and online directories are great tools to increase visibility and connect with your customers. Get the most out of your advertising investment by placing an ad in the Polar Yellow Pages! For more information regarding advertising, contact Pinnacle Publishing at 800.343.8086 or visit www.pinnaclepub.com.

Your Yellow Page Advertising Sales Team

Kelly Gordon Bob Hughes Ethan Rogers

Every time you choose where to purchase goods or services you have a powerful opportunity to make a difference in the community in which you live. When you choose local businesses and locally produced goods and services you’re reinvesting money right here and helping to create a stronger local economy. Here are some reasons to buy local:

Why Buy Local?

More and Better Jobs

Protection of Unique Culture

Efficient Use of Taxes

Improved Product Selection

Greater Economic Vitality Environmental Benefits

Increased Support for Community Groups

The money you spend in locally owned stores has two to three times the economic impact of dollars spent at national retailers. Studies show that for every $100 spent at a locally owned business $45 goes back into the community and our tax base. By comparison, for every $100 spent at a chain store only $14 comes back.

For every two jobs a national retailer brings to a community three higher-wage jobs are lost due to local businesses closing. Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, and they provide the most jobs to our residents.

Local one-of-a-kind businesses reflect our unique culture and character contributing to the success of tourism.

A multitude of small businesses each selecting products based on the needs of their local customers, rather than a national sales plan, results in a much broader range of product choices.

Big-box stores and other national retailers usually require large undeveloped land to accommodate their needs. Buying local means shopping closer to home, which means less sprawl and the resulting habitat loss along with reduced driving and dependence on oil.

Local nonprofit organizations receive an average of 250 percent more support from smaller, locally owned business owners than they do from national companies.

Local businesses typically require a much smaller infrastructure investment as compared to nationally owned stores that enter a community. This makes for a more efficient use of public services.

While we realize it may not always be possible to buy what you need from a

local business, please remember to think local first!

4

CPNI Privacy NoticeFrom time to time Polar changes its service offerings and makes available additional features and services, which may enhance and augment the services to which you are already subscribed. In order for us to determine which customers may benefit from the new services and enhancements, we will use information about your account that is within our database, legally referred to as Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI), unless you restrict that use in the manner described below. CPNI includes information such as which long distance carrier and plan to which you are subscribed, calling features and plans to which you are subscribed, and the associated charges for those plans. Use of this data will allow Polar to tailor its service offerings to your individual needs.

For this purpose, CPNI data will be used by Polar Communications, its subsidiaries, and affiliates only. This data will not be shared by Polar Communications with any other outside source except as necessary and required to provide the service(s) to which you are already subscribed, and unless we are legally compelled to.

You have a right under federal law to protect the confidentiality of your account information and restrict the use of CPNI data, and we have a responsibility to protect your data. To restrict the use of your CPNI data you must contact our business office at 701-284-7221 or sales@polarcomm.com within 30 days of your receipt of this notice to request that we not utilize your CPNI data. Your denial of approval for Polar to use this data will not affect the provision of any services to which you subscribe. Your approval or denial of approval for the use of CPNI outside of the service to which you already subscribe will remain valid until you revoke or limit the approval or denial.

Need a great deal?...just ask!

Get great deals from Polar in March!When you contact Polar customer service in March to add any new service be sure to say

“Can I get a deal on this?” and we’ll say “Yes!”

Add a new calling feature, more cable channels or upgrade to High Speed Internet. Just call, tell us what service you want to add and remember to ask for a deal!

5

Save the Date!2010 Annual MeetingThursday, June 10th

Meal - 5:00-6:00pmChris Midgarden Arena

Registration - 5:15-6:15pmMeeting - 6:30pm

Park River High School

PO Box 270 • Park River, ND 58270

CONNECTIONSPublished By

Polar CommunicationsPO Box 270 • Park River, ND 58270

701.284.7221 • 800.284.7222www.thinkpolar.com

Ronald Steinke .................................................................................CavalierBeverly Jensen ................................................................................. DraytonPeter “Kelly” McKenzie ...........................................................MichiganAmber Meyer ............................................................................. St. ThomasJoe Torgerson ....................................................................................FairdaleGreg Steffes .......................................................................................... ArthurEric “Ike” Meberg ...................................................................... Park RiverJon McMillan ...................................................................................FordvilleLori Dahl ................................................................................................. LakotaDavid L. Dunning ...................................... General Manager/CEO

Monday-Friday • 7:30am-6:00pmSaturday • 8:00am-4:30pm

24 Hour Customer Service • 284.7127

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

HOURS OF OPERATION