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Executive Bios

  • Dave Wittwer - President and Chief Executive Officer
  • Jim Butman - Group President - Marketing, Sales & Customer Operations
  • Bill Megan - President, TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC; Executive Vice President, TDS Telecommunications Corp.
  • Kevin Hess - Senior Vice President – Government & Regulatory Affairs
  • Mike Pandow - Senior Vice President – Human Resources & Administration

Dave Wittwer
President and Chief Executive Officer

Dave Wittwer

Dave Wittwer joined TDS in 1983. While working his way to the executive level, Dave has held a number of positions at increasing levels of responsibility, including as an internal auditor, division accounting manager, and controller.

During his 27-years with TDS, Dave has also held many leadership positions: executive vice president of Staff Operations and chief financial officer, president of the company's ILEC operations, and chief operating officer. His experience within the company spans many departments and areas; it has served as preparation for his current role as president and CEO, to which he was appointed in 2006.

Dave has many goals as president and CEO, including: providing great service to TDS' customer base, delivering quality products and services, promoting a positive work environment that employees can be proud of, and giving shareholders a good return on their investment.

Dave has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and a Master's from the University of Wisconsin–Madison specializing in management and quality. He is a Certified Public Accountant. Currently, Dave serves on the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce board of directors and the UW Whitewater Business and Economics Advisory board.

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Jim Butman
Group President - Marketing, Sales & Customer Operations

Jim Butman

Jim Butman joined TDS in 1985 as a member of the Government and Regulatory Affairs department. He held a variety of managerial and director level positions before joining the Marketing department as director of Product Management.

In 1994, Jim was named president of USLink (TDS Telecom's long distance operation in Minnesota and North Dakota). He served in this leadership role for three years before being appointed president of TDS Metrocom. In 2006, Jim was named the group president of Marketing, Sales, and Customer operations for TDS Telecommunications Corp.

Jim has nearly 30 years experience in the telecom industry, including five years with GTE Midwestern Telephone Operations. He has held leadership roles in all facets of the industry, local exchange, long distance, and competitive local exchange.

He holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is a Certified Management Accountant. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.

Jim currently serves on the board of directors, is a member of the Executive Committee and is Treasurer, for COMPTEL, the national association for the competitive local telecom industry.

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Bill Megan
President, TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC; Executive Vice President, TDS Telecommunications Corp.

Bill Megan

Bill Megan joined TDS in 1989. He held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in Customer Service, Marketing, Planning, and Business Development at TDS Telecommunications Corp. After five years with TDS, Bill had an opportunity to join the New York office of PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked for seven years as a management consultant focused on strategy and finance.

Bill returned to TDS in 2001 as vice president–Finance and Controller. He was named chief financial officer (CFO) in 2005 and then executive vice president–Finance and CFO in 2006. In this role, Bill was responsible for Accounting, Strategic Planning and Analysis, Legal Affairs, Business Development, and Billing Operations.

In the spring of 2011, Bill was named president of TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC. Bill leads and oversees all day-to-day operations for TDS’ fast growing Hosted and Managed Services (HMS) operation, which includes TEAM Technologies, VISI Incorporated, and OneNeck IT Services Corp. He also continues to lead Business Development and Legal Affairs as EVP for TDS.

Bill has a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a designation earned from the CFA Institute, a global, not-for-profit association of investment professionals.

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Kevin Hess
Senior Vice President - Government & Regulatory Affairs

Kevin Hess

Kevin Hess joined TDS in 1984 as the manager of State and Regulatory Affairs. During his tenure with TDS, Kevin has held a variety of leadership positions within the department, including as the vice president of Federal Affairs. In 2006, Kevin was named senior vice president of Government and Regulatory Affairs.

In his current role, Kevin works closely with industry affiliated organizations, meeting frequently with regulatory groups, members of Congress and state legislatures to educate and advance TDS' positions. Kevin oversees the Government and Regulatory Affairs teams which represent the interests of TDS' ILEC and CLEC operations in regulatory, legislative, judicial, industry, carrier relations, and public affairs matters at the state and national levels.

Prior to joining TDS, Kevin spent eight years at a regional accounting and consulting firm specializing in providing local exchange carriers with audit, accounting, tax and regulatory expertise.

Kevin is a certified public accountant. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee.

Kevin currently serves as Treasurer and as a member of the Executive Committee for the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance.

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Mike Pandow
Senior Vice President - Human Resources & Administration

Mike Pandow

Mike Pandow joined TDS in 1982 as manager of Rates and Tariffs. During his tenure with TDS, Mike has held various leadership positions in Government and Regulatory Affairs, Marketing and Customer Service, and Customer Operations. He has served as a district operations manager in Wisconsin, interim vice president of the Mid-Central Division, vice president of the Eastern Region, and vice president of Customer Operations.

In 2006, Mike was named senior vice president of Human Resources and Administration. In his current role, Mike oversees all staffing and recruiting efforts; compensation and payroll management; safety and labor relations; employee relations; and training and development. In addition, he has oversight responsibility for procurement, real estate, facilities, and fleet management. And he is the executive leading TDS' data privacy efforts.

Mike has more than 30 years experience in the telecom industry, including four years with GTE in various industry relations roles. He has served on a number of telecommunications industry-associated committees during his career, including on the boards of directors for the Indiana Telecommunications Association, Ohio Telecommunications Industry Association, and Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association. Currently, he is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Mike holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Business Law.

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