Building Blocks

Building Blocks is the history of Buckeye CableSystem. Buckeye is part of a family empire started in 1900 by the son of an immigrant in upstate New York. This book is a fascinating tale of the family’s progression into the fourth generation and through the myriad of daily newspapers, radio and television stations, cablevision firms, a telephone company, a fiber-optic construction company, and other related communications and advertising firms which the family owns or has owned. This book shows some of the trials and tribulations faced by family members as they employ a nimble strategy to compete with the industry behemoths. It also examines the unique factors that have spelled success for 50 years and looks at what the competitive future holds for smaller cable and Internet firms Buckeye’s size.

[This book] is full of fascinating history and anecdotes. . . .It is a book that ought to appeal to anyone in the cable industry, especially if they need to figure out how to cope with the bewilderingly fast changes in technology and viewer habits and preferences., Building Blocks offers a glimpse into local history . . . thrown in with anecdotes about the 50 years of growth., Dawson’s readable, fast-paced writing style makes Building Blocks a must read for anyone interested in how the cable industry got started and is a great read for those wanting to learn more about the cable business. It is a great all-American story of how an immigrant family becomes a leader, and stays a leader, in the media business and is a great reference for anyone interested in Toledo business history. The story of Buckeye and the Block family businesses is closely intertwined with the vibrancy of the Toledo community. While Building Blocks is a well-researched piece on the cable industry, its lessons in how to run a customer-friendly business can be applied to any industry.

Tom Dawson spent some 23 years as a writer and editor on two Ohio daily newspapers, including seventeen with The Blade of Toledo, owned by Block Communications, Inc., which also owns Buckeye CableSystem. In 1986, he transferred to Buckeye. During his career there, he coordinated design and construction, new business development, community affairs, and government relations dealing with all regulatory and compliance issues for the cable company. In 1994, Dawson was named vice president/regulatory affairs of Buckeye TeleSystem, a sister company. He retired in 2009 after 40 years with the Block organization, but went back in 2010 as a consultant dealing with the same issues as before he retired.