Business notes

Consolidated Telephone Co. reached an agreement with a wholesale provider of high-speed data services.

With Digital Subscriber Lines, households with one pair of copper lines will be able to access both the Internet and place and receive telephone calls at the same time. The DSL lines also offer room for data and voice. Businesses will be able to access high speed lines for data transfer.

Consolidated's recent announcement comes after an agreement was reached with New Edge Networks, which is a leading national wholesale DSL provider in small, midsize and semirural markets, to provide high speed Internet DSL access. The speed may be 100 times faster than traditional analog modems.

In addition, other benefits of DSL technology include continuous connectivity that eliminates dialing up or waiting, secure access using dedicated facilities and reliability through continuous network management and monitoring.

For businesses with dedicated leased lines, DSL technology provides similar speeds at lower installation and monthly costs. Multiple computers may be connected to the same line, increasing ease of use and performance over dial-up Internet access.

New DSL technology will serve most of the Brainerd area, covering a two-mile radius from downtown Brainerd. And another form of DSL, called IDSL, will reach greater than a five-mile radius from downtown Brainerd.

Four join Tanner staff

Tanner Honda Mazda and Tanner Motors added to staff.

Mike Maske, Greg Hannah and Dick Lyscio joined Tanner Honda Mazda.

Maske, a Brainerd native, joined the sales staff after gaining a college plumbing degree. Hannah is also a new salesman. From Fargo, Hannah graduated from St. Cloud State University with a marketing degree. Lyscio is the new car sales manager and returns to his hometown. He has been in the car business for 19 years as a sales manager and business manager in places like Mills Auto in Willmar, Capital Motors and Frank Stinson Chev in South Dakota.

Mike Lauer is a new salesman at Tanner Motors. Before joining Tanner, Lauer worked in sales at the Frito Lay Co.

Nelson Graphics takes top award

BAXTER -- Nelson Graphic Design and Photography was a bronze winner in the 2000 Summit Creative Awards competition for its outstanding creative work for Berkley.

Nelson Graphics designed and produced a 30-second television commercial for Berkley featuring the Frenzy lure. The Summit Creative Award was created to recognize exceptional work by advertising agencies, video production companies, multimedia firms and other creative groups with annual billings of $15 million or less. It is the only opportunity such firms have to compete internationally. This year's competition had a record number of entries of more than 3,000 companies from the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

Mattern joins InfoTel

BAXTER -- Alice Mattern joined the customer service staff at Baxter-based InfoTel Communications.

Mattern will work in customer service and support for communications needs. Mattern and her family are owners of Mattern and Sons Taxidermy.

Simmons earns promotion

BAXTER -- Jon Simmons was promoted to a supervisor in the Baxter Auto Glass Specialists service center.

Headquartered in Madison, Wis., since 1961, the employee-owned company specializes in automotive glass repair and replacement.

Natural landscaping class at arboretum

The Northland Arboretum will offer a class titled "Natural Landscaping" at 2 p.m. on April 1.

Daniel Dix, noted water garden specialist and naturalist, will conduct the class. Class size is limited so participants are asked to call ahead to reserve a space. There is no charge to attend.

For more information, call the arboretum office at 829-8770.