Customer as well as CEO, Tim Johnson, with wife Vicki, enjoy Broadband at their rural Edmeston home. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Hickling’s Fish Farm Inc. is exactly what Otsego Electric President/CEO Tim Johnson is talking about.
In tanks inside four sizeable modern buildings on Pitts Road near here, the Hicklings are growing 65-70,000 trout yearlings annually, and another 20-30,000 pounds of 2-year-old bass, which – a delicacy in Thai and other cultures – are sold to Asian markets in Boston and other East Coast cities.
“The big money we’re spending now is in technology,” said Darren Hickling, a civil engineer who operates the business with his parents, Vincent and Linda, a nephew and one of the nephew’s high-school buddies.
With the county’s outmigration, Hickling said he can’t expand his workforce even if he wanted to: There’s no one to hire.
“It” – Broadband – “was an economic-development initiative for us,” said Johnson, who had been outside legal counsel to Otsego Electric for 25 years before becoming the top executive in 2015.
As a 501(c)(12), Otsego Electric – a cooperative founded during the Depression, owned by members to serve members – Otsego Electric is prohibited from making profits.
SUNDAY SPEAKER – 3 p.m. ‘The Struggle to Bring Broadband to Rural America’ presented by Tim Johnson, CEO of Otsego Electric Cooperative and OEConnect. Free, registration required. 607-547-8344 or visit www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-the-village-library-23034666815
SEMINAR – 8:30 – 11 a.m. Learn about the progress in bringing Broadband internet to Otsego County from Otsego Electric Cooperative CEO Tim Johnson. Free, registration required. Presented by The Otsego County Chamber of Commerce. 607-432-4500 or visit otsegocc.com
INTERNATIONAL NIGHT – 5 – 8 p.m. Enjoy 3-course meal from abroad. This week enjoy dinner from Brazil. Cost, $20/person. Reservation required. Take-out available. The Otesaga, Cooperstown. 607-544-2524 or visit www.otesaga.com/dining/seasonal-dining
ONEONTA – Tim Johnson was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and longtime owner of the beloved Autumn Cafe. He passed away on Jan. 3, 2020.
Tim was born on Jan. 31, 1950, in Jamaica, Queens, and grew up on Long Island. He moved to Oneonta in 1968 to attend SUNY Oneonta.
While in college, Tim was on the track team, and in particular loved running hurdles. He also met his best friends, including Rob Klein, Brian Powers and Andy Resney.
In 1970, Tim was among students who camped out in front of the SUCO administration building for 2-3 days. This was done in support of students who had taken over the building to protest Nixon authorizing U.S. attacks on Cambodia.
While in college, Tim was involved in Student Senate, Men’s Glee Club, cross-country track, and was a student cafeteria worker and resident adviser for many years.
HARTWICK – Finally, more broadband is coming to Otsego County.
This March, Otsego Electric Cooperative’s plans to bring the high-powered Internet to most of the western part of the county will begin with fiber broadband access in Laurens.
“Be patient, we’re coming,” said Tim Johnson, CEO, Otsego Electric Cooperative. “We’re making rapid progress and we’ll get there.”
Separately, by fall the Otsego Now hopes to launch its downtown Cooperstown WiFi Hotspot project through MIDTEL, Middleburgh Telephone Co.
Otsego Electric Cooperative CEO Tim Johnson briefs Otsego Now directors this morning on the Hartwick-based cooperative’s $3.9 million plan for a fiber-optic internet network to serve its members across the county with promised speeds of 1gbps with no data caps. The expanded service, which he anticipates being completed by the end of 2018, will cost members $59.95 per month for fast and reliable Internet service, a commodity that county residents have been requesting for many years. (Parker Fish/AllOTSEGO.com)
HARTWICK – Timothy R. Johnson of Edmeston, former legal counsel to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, has joined Otsego Electric Cooperative as chief executive officer.
A lifelong Otsego County resident and OEC attorney for almost 30 years, the new CEO succeeds Steve Rinell, who resigned.
