Breezewood native Scott Shaffer began his career while still in high school, starting out like many young people - mowing grass. The difference for Scott is that he was mowing for Frontier Communications, the local telephone company. “The summer between my junior and senior year I did just about everything, but spent so much time mowing that they called me the “lawn doctor,” Shaffer said. Three days after he graduated in June 1991 from Everett Area High School and the building-construction trades program at the Bedford County Technical Center, he started working his way up from mowing lawns to his present position as a combination technician - working on new installations and keeping the company’s system operational. “About 90 percent of my workload is in new installations; most of that residential,” he said. “We’ve been very busy the last year installing DSL (digital subscriber lines for broadband Internet access) in homes all over the service area,” he said. One of three techs in Breezewood, his work takes him all over Frontier’s service area in Bedford and Fulton counties. “We have the opportunity to meet a lot of people,” he said. “Learning to deal with the public is a big part of our job,” he said.

Also a part of the job is keeping up with changing technology, which he’s done by attending company-sponsored training and learning on the job. “It’s still all about getting dial tone to the customer; but the services we provide are vastly expanded from when I started,” he said. “I learn something new everyday in my job. We keep adding services to that basic phone line and we’ve got to stay current.” His career also keeps him outdoors - something he said is essential to him. “I couldn’t stand to stay inside all day,” he said. “I’ve got to be out and doing - even when it’s scorching hot or freezing cold, I’d rather be outside.”

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