Zane Adkins had never so much as glanced at a cell phone tower when he met Jimi Moore, Vice President/ Partner STG Communication Services, and began talking about the tower industry. The second time they spoke, Jimi asked him if he was afraid of heights. When Adkins said no, the next thing he knew he was getting training as a tower technician.
Adkins was born in Columbus, OH, and moved south to Youngstown, OH, where he has lived since he was 13. He was fresh out of high school when he joined STG Communications at the age of 19. Headquartered in northeastern Ohio, STG Communications provides tower installations and maintenance, civil construction, microwave & backhaul, small cell/DAS, alternative structure wireless construction, project management and technical services. It covers a service area from Ohio to Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Northern Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
In two years, Adkins went from being a green hand to top hand where he was running the top side of the tower build. Not even a year after that, he moved into the crew lead spot where he was in charge of getting the site built and built correctly. And he’s been doing that ever since. For the last two years, Adkins and his crew have been doing the 5G upgrade builds for Verizon, taking down old antennas and flying up new ones.
In a short period of time Adkins has taken on a lot of responsibility, but he credits lessons he learned about teamwork, camaraderie and social skills while playing football in high school for his success as a foreman.
“I’m the crew lead but my top hand on the tower helps me lead on the site and then the guys under him are helping him lead. It’s all about teamwork,” Adkins said.
Along with quickly learning the industry and moving up in the ladder, Adkins has grown as a person. “Every guy that I take out to the site with me, it is my responsibility to keep them safe, making sure they get home, as well as making sure they’re doing the job right,” he said.
Adkins likes fulfilling the trust his bosses place in him to do a good job. He also likes fulfilling the responsibility of ensuring connectivity for everyone with a cell phone, which may save lives.
“What we do affects 911 services, emergency medical services, police officers, state highway patrol,” he said. “We’re really doing a big part as far as maintaining communication between anyone with a cell phone to emergency services.”
Keeping the world connected makes Adkins feel good about his job and coming into work every morning, even when the weather gets cold and stressful. “The weather can really play a mental game with us,” Adkins said. “But we know what we’re doing for other people and we’re helping them. It just helps my mindset to stay positive.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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