Pay Bill
Sandhill Builds on Its 75-Year Legacy As It Serves Marlboro County
Story by Patrick Smith
Marlboro County Information Technology Director Steve Pollard recently reached out to Sandhill with a problem. It was late on a Monday, and he needed a 500 Mbps connection in a county building by Friday.
“I started the call by apologizing,” Steve says with a laugh. “I knew it was a big ask, but we needed it for a project with a tight timeline. Sandhill had it done by Wednesday. They’re always there for us, and I know they’ve always got my back. It’s a direct partnership.”
For Steve, that partnership is priceless. “I’m 1 person,” he says. “I’m working with 200 employees in 14 different locations, 25 servers, a data center, the 911 call center, the sheriff’s department, detention center, library and more. I don’t have time to constantly follow up and worry about whether something got done. I know that if I call Sandhill with a request, even if I don’t need it for months, it’ll always get done on time or beforehand. They’re an extension of our team.”
The impact of the Sandhill team goes far beyond IT installations and repairs. For 75 years, Sandhill has served the community, initially providing telephone service to the towns and rural areas of Chesterfield County and the Bethune area of Kershaw County. Today, Sandhill is a fundamental building block to ensure local residents and businesses are successful by connecting rural South Carolina to the world. Offering high-speed broadband, television, phone, security, home automation services and more, Sandhill operates with the same principles of its founders—quality service, stewardship and community.
Investing in Marlboro County
Through grant funding and significant contributions from Sandhill, more than $25,000,000 has been invested within the last decade to build a state-of-the-art communications system in Marlboro County. The faster network also helped to create new jobs and improve local government services.
“We’ve done a lot of work with the police and fire departments to update emergency services and the local municipalities,” Sandhill CEO Lee Chambers says. “We’ve been able to hire new help, and from the time we took over service in the county, we’ve basically doubled our staff with local employees.”
As Sandhill invests in its service area, it benefits everyone in the community.
“Everybody at Sandhill bends over backwards for us,” Steve says. “If there’s ever an issue, I know about it right away because they call me. And when I need help, I don't have to call around and find out if there’s a lower price. I always know they’re making decisions that are the best for Marlboro County taxpayers and me. It’s a very special relationship, and knowing that help is a phone call away is worth more than gold.”