• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Former Cable Salesman Remembers Early Years in Cedar Falls, Iowa

Posted on: Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 22--CEDAR FALLS -- People who say area residents spend too much time in front of the television can blame Patrick Esser.

After all, he is one of the reasons cable began filtering into area homes.

"I suspect I sold cable service to Waterloo's first cable customer," Esser said.

Esser, who graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1979, recently was named president of Cox Communications. He is succeeding James Robbins, who will retire at the end of the year.

After graduating from UNI, Esser went to work for the McDonald Group, which owned Waterloo's first cable system. Esser just went up to the company's front door and got an interview with Lex Walters, the cable system's general manager.

"Jobs were tight in 1979, and I was happy to have one, especially in a growing business," Esser said.

Initially, Esser started as a field technician, climbing poles and cutting in taps. Once the company was ready to sell cable service, Esser moved to marketing and began selling door-to-door. He still has copies of the original newspaper ads promoting the new television service to the area.

He didn't stay long, joining Cox later that year. Esser took over as director of programming for the company's Hampton Roads, Va., system.

Prior to his promotion, he worked as Cox Communications' executive vice president and chief operating officer.

The McDonald Group was the first of five owners on Waterloo's cable system, owning Waterloo Cablevision from 1978 to 1988. Since then, Waterloo's cable system has had four owners. It currently is owned by Mediacom.

While he hasn't lived in the area for some time, Esser remains connected to the community. Esser's brother, Frank Esser, works at UNI as vice president for marketing and advancement and director of collegiate development and is the former director of the local Boys & Girls Club.

Plus, Patrick Esser hasn't forgotten the food.

"I still crave the pizza from Tony's on the Hill or pork tenderloin sandwiches from the Steamboat Garden," Esser said.

-----

To see more of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wcfcourier.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

COX,

Source: Waterloo Courier

More News in this Category