Retired NATE Membership provides an avenue for industry professionals to remain involved with NATE after they had retired. It is a win-win situation, the NATE Membership as a whole benefits from the experience and knowledge of Retired Members; and the Retired Members can keep in touch with the friendships they have formed over their career with other NATE Members and keep abreast of industry issues through Tower Times magazine.
William Scott Edwards
Mike Kelley
After several years in the trucking industry, Scott Krouse got his start in the tower industry in February 1985 at UNR-Rohn (as it was known then) in the customer service/shipping department.
During his 15 years with Rohn, he worked in various departments including construction contracts administration, tower quoting, inside sales, international sales, and manager of the after-market telecom accessories group. In April 2000 he joined PiRod Tower in Plymouth, Indiana, as a national accounts manager for after-market products. One year later, Valmont Industries acquired PiRod and he became a regional sales manager for structures and components, based in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, Valmont acquired Site Pro 1, an after-market products supplier. Scott then served as a regional sales manager where he successfully developed the customer base in two separate territories.
Throughout his tenure in the wireless industry, Scott has worked closely with NATE, including eight years on the NATE Trade Show Committee. In August 2016, Scott joined the NATE Administrative Staff, working first as Special Projects Manager and then as Director of the newly established NATE Wireless Industry Network (WIN). Scott officially retired at the end of April 2021, after 36 years in the wireless industry. He still represents NATE where needed at several trade shows annually.
As the Baby Boomer generation nears retirement, we encourage NATE Members to consider becoming a “Retired NATE Member” and keep involved in the telecommunications and broadcast infrastructure industry.
Tim Rajkowski, owner of Tower 2000, formerly known as Tim’s Tower Service and a NATE Founding Member, sold his company and officially retired on January 18, 2008.
Since NATE’s inception, Tim was an active member, sponsoring numerous NATE Annual Conference & Expositions, a NATE/OSHA National Partner, encouraged his employees to serve on committees, and he himself served on the Trade Show Committee. The new owners have changed the company name to True North Tower. After working in the industry for over 35 years, Tim wanted to continue to be a part of the Association; therefore, on March 31, 2008 he joined NATE as a Retired Member. Tim continues to reside in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, and enjoys a well-deserved lighter schedule.
Clement Rolle, former Senior Manager at Bahamas Telecomm Co. Ltd. officially retired in 2018.
He joined Bahamas Telecomm Co. Ltd. (BTC) in September of 1977 in the tower and antenna section where he worked through the ranks building towers/antenna and installing transmission lines throughout the Bahamas. BTC has been an active member of NATE for the past 14 years. Clement is trained in all facets of towers/antenna.
Clement has served on the NATE Member Services Committee since 2007 and as the NATE WIN Regional Ambassador for the Bahamas since the program’s inception. Clement has never missed a NATE Annual or Summer Conference and has attended multiple NATE WIN Regional Conferences in his time as a NATE member.
After actively participating in NATE for 17+ years, Clement wanted to continue to be a part of the Association and volunteering on the Member Services Committee; therefore, on September 5, 2018 he joined NATE as a Retired Member. Clement continues to reside in Nassau, Bahamas.
John M. Rowe received his BS in Industrial Management from Iowa State University and an MS in Telecommunications from Colorado University. As a 24-year-old Belden Cable factory sales rep New York City, John arranged a meeting that directly resulted in the first application of fiber optics in cable TV at the US bicentennial. John received the “Excellence in Service” award in 1982 from MCI Communications after training subordinates to perform antenna site acquisition and permitting and completing the development work for a 20-site microwave network through Update New York, himself, that allowed the company to complete a figure-8 backbone between NYC and Chicago.
Mr. Rowe performed site development services as an independent contractor and as an employee, as fit the requirement, of numerous applications and companies in the telecom industry from 1984 through 2014, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T,
T-Mobile, Crown Castle, American Tower, Ram Communications Consultants/Ram Mobile Data, Hughes Communications Satellite Services, Inc. and Skytel/Destineer. Rowe’s working man’s mantra was to always deliver “fast-track, quality-controlled site acquisition and permitting.” From 2016 through 2018, John served as the Regulatory Chairman for Colorado Wireless Association.
During the 40-year span of his career in the field, John worked in forty-five states, authored articles for trade magazines, and gave presentations at industry meetings, and continued to recruit, hire, train, and manage others. In 2017, John Rowe self-published “Firmly Anchored in Midair, The Handbook of Wireless Site Acquisition and Permitting,” a definitive manual for wireless systems deployment through the eyes of the wireless site developer.”
We congratulate our Retired Members on their retirement and look forward to seeing them at future NATE events.
