Robert W Zinnecker

Bob Zinnecker is a 50-year veteran of the telecommunications industry. He spent 33 years with Contel Corporation managing operations in Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. In 1983, he came to New York as President of Contel of New York. In 1991, he became President of the New York State Telecommunications Association in Albany and remained there until his retirement in 1998. He currently operates a consulting service providing practical management assistance for today's changing world.

Bob is active in civic, religious and industry organizations. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Empire Telephone Corp., North Penn Telephone Co. and the Delhi Telephone Co. He is a member of Gideons International, the Institute of Certified Professional Managers, and the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association. He and his wife attend Penfield Wesleyan Church where he is a member of the Local Board of Administration and Assistant Business Manager. They are "Wish Granters" for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Western New York.

Bob is a Senior Certified Professional Manager and is a charter member of the Institute of Certified Professional Managers. He is the author of Acquisition, a Christian fictional novel set in the telecommunications industry. He has also written numerous articles and devotionals that have been published in religious and business media.

Bob has four grown children and seven grandchildren. He and his wife, Elaine, reside in Penfield, NY.

WHY I WROTE ACQUISITION

By Bob Zinnecker

I wrote in the hope that this fictional story about a driven executive’s search for a more meaningful life could help others find a new purpose for their life through faith in Jesus Christ. As a telecommunications executive for 50 years, I found that anything I accomplished was due to arranging my priorities around my faith, my family and the company I worked for. Wilson McCann, the main character in Acquisition hasn’t done that. Now his company is gone and he is searching for a new focus. He moves to a small town in Michigan, similar to the one I grew up in and populated with characters similar to those I knew. Once there, he finds himself being drawn in different directions by people from his past, including Wall Street movers and shakers, politicians and corporate wheeler dealers. He also meets new friends and associates whose priorities are different than his. All of us resist change and McCann is no different. He continues to resist a growing awareness that he needs a new faith until a series of losses literally drive him to his knees.

The telecommunications industry has changed significantly in the past 50 years. It has transitioned from a regulated monopoly to a competitive industry. The impact of cellular technology, the application of fiber optics for greater bandwidth and the Internet has made many question the viability of the traditional wire line network. Companies who made significant acquisitions during the last 30 years of the 20th century have now begun to shed portions of their operations or have become acquisition victims themselves. That is the world that Wilson McCann lives in and he understands both the past and the future of his industry very well. But, he doesn’t understand how to focus on something other than that industry or how to build meaningful relationships outside of it. Most of all, there is no room for God in his life.

McCann, like many of us, is faced with a significant decision in his life. He must determine what acquisition is the most important one that a man can make. As he confronts the direction of his life, he finds that there are new opportunities awaiting him in the future but that they will collide with the results of his past in ways he never imagined.

I hope that you will enjoy reading Acquisition as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that it will change your life in ways you have never dreamed of. The old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah said that God has not forgotten us and that God does have a plan for our lives. Even if you choose not to read Acquisition, take those promises to heart. May God richly bless you.