Kristann Mattes
Vice President and
Director of the Board
Kristann Mattes is the great-granddaughter of Founder Harmon Bigelow and Leota Bigelow, and daughter of President Luanne Silkwood. She resides in
O'Neals with her husband, Jim, and 2 children. Her current role in the company is Vice President. Mattes works with the Executive Management team to guide her family company through the complex issues of the telecommunications business.
Kristann (Silkwood) attended Fresno State University, where she completed her Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Science in 1977 and embarked upon a distinguished career in education. Her ultimate goal after graduation was to learn how to be a leader in preparation for her return to run the family business.
Having grown up on the family ranch in O’Neals, she grew to love the rural lifestyle. After entering the field of education she was strongly drawn to create an educational environment for students and teachers in the field of agriculture. She earned the American Farmer Degree in 1973 and the Honorary American Degree in 1996. Today Mattes is a respected leader in her field as Chair of the Central High Agricultural Dept., distinguished as the single largest FFA chapter in California, Chairman of California Association FFA Board of Directors, and Past Chairman of the California FFA Foundation. Of the numerous accolades she has received she most prizes the “Star State Advisor” in 1996.
Mattes, her husband and children continue work as a family on her family’s ranch in O’Neals raising approximately 100 head of Registered Angus and Shorthorn cattle, 30 head of market swine plus 30 head of Suffolk and Hampshire sheep.
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