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Columbia Business Monthly

Navigating the “new normal”

May 04, 2020 12:56PM ● By David Dykes
By Lorenzo Clark

Americans have stayed home at the urging of health experts and public officials with the hope of reducing the spread of Covid-19, forcing industries to shift how they operate —  restaurants, small businesses, health care clinics, schools and more. In the last six weeks, many businesses have engaged in new tactics and ventured into cutting edge technology in efforts to operate business as usual.

Our local sales center in Greenville is no different.  We chose to pivot to remote work similar to our fellow businesses in the area to maintain the safety of our employees.  

At Windstream, we are not only a company that offers high-speed internet and business solutions to our customers, but we use these services daily. We live, work and connect in the communities we serve, and are committed to always providing innovative solutions. 

We refuse to allow Covid-19 to negatively impact our service infrastructure nor detract us from connecting people and empowering businesses.

Part of Windstream’s spirit is to be respectful. As we’ve all been working remotely, it’s important that we maintain a healthy work-life balance. Checking in and supporting our employees in their search for a healthy balance is of utmost importance to us. 

We perform best when we are supporting each other. Another paramount piece of our spirit is to give back. We are able to fulfill this commitment through various relationships with local nonprofits and national organizations such as Make a Wish Foundation and Susan G. Komen. 

In the midst of Covid-19, we are continuing to build bridges to help connect us to each other and our customers. Some of our most innovative software, OfficeSuite UC® , that we promote to our business customers, has become the very thing that we rely on. 

Our state and national guidance around physical distancing is not forever, but the ways that we’ve leaned into high-speed internet and technology platforms must be.

States have begun to roll out plans to reopen and now is the time to reflect on what lessons and assets we can take away from this crisis. 

Many individuals in the workforce and on performance-critical teams will wish to stay running on the technology they’ve recently integrated. 

In true Greenville Windstream spirit, we will continue to build bridges to make connections, maintain a healthy work-life balance, provide innovative solutions and stay community focused.



Lorenzo Clark is vice president of consumer and small business sales for Windstream.


Windstream Holdings, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, is a provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions.