Rainier Connect is unusual in the telecommunications industry. Unlike many others in the industry, it has a rich history deeply rooted in its family values.

Rainier Connect was started in 1910, and before the Christensen family took it over in 1912, it was struggling. It's rumored that "Grandpa Pete" Christensen won the then known Mt. Tacoma Telephone and Telegraph in a game of Pinochle. A carpenter from Denmark, Pete Christensen knew how to work hard and was dedicated to making the small telephone company succeed. Pete's daughter, Annie Christensen Haynes, worked the small, wooden Kellogg switchboard, which could handle up to 10 calls at a time, and the family began providing rural customers around Eatonville, Washington with telephone service.

The company expanded their services in Eatonville, Washington and its surrounding areas, and in 1919 celebrated this growth by changing the company's name to Mashell Telephone and Telegraph, named after the near by Mashell River

That same year, Pete's son, Henry, purchased the company and assumed control. In 1929, Henry decided to move to Olympia, Washington and control was given to Pete's younger son, Dan. When Dan suddenly died in 1954, control of the company was then given to Pete's grandson, Arne Haynes.

By the time that Arne came to Mashell, the company has six employees, 300 customers, and annual revenues of only $32,000. Arne decided to leaves his job at the cedar shake mill and come to the small telephone company figuring there were better opportunities for him there.

With Arne managing, the company's growth continued. On June 1, 1954, the company converted to dial tone and decided to change its name once again to Mashell Telephone. During his 36 years as president, Arne was credited with steering one of the first telephone companies in Washington to digital switching and expanding its services to support more than 1,800 customers. But as 1990 rolled around, Arne decided it was time to retire.

This decision created an even more difficult one for Arne's son, Skip Haynes. "We decided that either I had to come back or sell the company." Skip, at that time was a partner at the Accounting Firm Ernst & Young, where he specialized in telecommunications, but when faced with that choice, there was only one answer. That year Skip became C.E.O. of the company.

During his first five years as president, Skip's efforts were focused on federal legislation that would make the telecommunications industry more competitive. Anticipating the Telecommunications Act's passing in 1996, which would allow communications companies to compete in any market against any company, Skip realized that the company had to diversify to stay competitive. "Now I need to make the transition from a monopoly organization to a competitive organization."

Skip embarked on modernizing the company's service offerings, making them more "data centric." Nearly $26 million has been spent since then on modernizing and expanding infrastructure, including the construction of new facilities, built with the customers' evolving needs in mind. These facilities provide the company and its customer's state-of-the-art technology without relying on other companies to provide service. Their employee base has also increased by about 25 percent since 1998.

Rainier Connect was started in 1995 as a provider of Internet access in Pierce County. With this new segment, the company changed its name again to Mashell Telecom. Another company, Rainier Cable, a cable television service, was started in 1996. The three of these companies combined became known as The Rainier Group.

The advancements of the company and its leadership were recognized by the industry, when in 2001 the US Telecom Association (USTA) elected Skip as the Chairman of the Board. Haynes served as Chairman for one year leading the trade association of more than 1,000 small, mid-size and large telecom providers (including Verizon, SBC and Bell South). During His tenure as Vice Chairman and Chairman, Skip chaired committees to elect a new CEO, and to develop a new business plan for the organization. As Chairman, he led the complete revamping of the association, allowing it to become the foremost telecom association in the United States.

Since 1998, the company has been aggressively adding to its range of services and the markets it provides services to. In 2001 The Rainier Group acquired Local Access Communications, an Internet provider in Centralia and Chehalis. The company constructed fiber optic lines through the business corridor of the cities and began direct competition with Qwest for business telecommunication services. Today, Local Access, a division of Rainier Connect, is the leading provider of services in the business corridors of Centralia and Chehalis.

In 2004, the company expanded again into Downtown Tacoma, partnering with Tacoma Power's Click! Network to provide telephone services and equipment, and Internet access to the city's commercial market.

A new office was opened in right in the heart of the downtown business district, and Skip's son, Brian Haynes was brought up from Merced, California to act as the company's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "It's exciting to be part of the resurgence of Tacoma, the energy is absolutely positive," says owner, CEO, and President, Skip Haynes. "Our new location offers our commercial sales division a new home where business is thriving."

Rainier Connect sees opening their additional office in Tacoma as a sign of continued success. According to Skip Haynes, "The ability for businesses to cost-effectively expand their internal communications network enables them to remain within their budget in a tight economic climate. By assisting our customers with selection and installation of phone and data systems and utilizing the optimum connections to the outside world, we strive to minimize the challenge of the complex communications at the lowest cost. This positions our small and medium business customers to communicate like a big business without the big business cost."