WordSouth was launched in 1996 by Stephen V. Smith following an award-winning career as a writer and photographer for a rural newspaper. The WordSouth staff has enjoyed the privilege of working with a number of rural utilities and businesses in the years that have followed.

Stephen V. Smith spent several years working for a newspaper that served the Sand Mountain region of northeast Alabama. “Getting to photograph and write about people and places across this rural landscape was an incredible opportunity,” says Smith.

“With a small newspaper, you are exposed to all facets of a region’s life,” he adds. “I used to joke that I wrote everything except the obituaries and Dear Abby — and that was practically true!”

Smith’s writing and photography garnered numerous Alabama Press Association awards, honors from the Business Council of Alabama and a number of regional accolades.

In the fall of 1995, Smith began making plans to parlay his sideline freelance writing into a full-time company. He and his wife, Michele, launched WordSouth on January 1, 1996, with “one contract and a prayer,” as Smith says.

The ensuing years have brought excitement, adventure and tremendous opportunities. New contracts. National awards. A tornado through the office (literally). Rapid growth. Upsizing. Downsizing. Rightsizing. And through it all, WordSouth has enjoyed working with some of the greatest people in the South.

“It has been fulfilling to partner with rural utilities,” Smith says. “Independent companies, like cooperatives and municipally-owned systems, face tremendous challenges in providing electricity and telecommunications services to the nation’s rural areas. Their costs for material, equipment and labor are the same as the big-city companies, but they serve far fewer customers per mile of line than their investor-owned counterparts.

“With such a relatively low density, the independent systems must work really hard to meet the needs of their customers,” Smith continues. “But instead of providing substandard service with a ‘just getting by’ attitude, these systems offer some of the most advanced services available anywhere. And their focus is on taking care of their customers, not building up the bottom line for Wall Street investors.”

WordSouth has enjoyed the opportunity to work with several such independent companies, including the following:

• Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative
• New Hope Telephone Cooperative
• Farmers Wireless
• Wiregrass Electric Cooperative
• Scottsboro Electric Power Board
• Cullman Electric Cooperative
• Cherokee Electric Cooperative
• Fort Payne Improvement Authority
• North Alabama Public Power Association
• North Alabama Industrial Development Association
• Tennessee Valley Public Power Association

WordSouth has also provided communications services to a number of businesses and individuals in health care, government service, manufacturing and economic development.