Congratulations to Matt Painter, Field Splicer, on being named Socket’s You-Make-The-Difference Winner for July!

Matt has been at Socket for just shy of 9 years. He saw Socket’s position posted for an installer while job searching and decided to send in his resume. He received a call from our Outside Plant Supervisor for an interview and the rest is history.

As a Field Splicer, or Fiber Optic Splicer, Matt comes in after the underground or aerial crew has completed the mainline construction and splices the fibers together. He and his team do this by stripping the cable, building a case, and then splicing the fibers together. This allows the fiber optic light to travel to a customer’s house or a business. It’s a very tedious and technical job!

One coworker who nominated him said, “Matt is a hard worker and long-time Socketeer. He’s dedicated and will get the job done. Matt deserves this award!”

Outside of work you’ll find him relaxing, playing video games, watching his kids play ball or having family a BBQ. He and his wonderful wife Ashley, who he says is the heart and soul of their family, have four kids together who keep them busy! He coaches his daughters in softball which includes two different teams so it can be a bit chaotic at times! “They are a handful, but they are great kids” says Matt. They also have three Boxers at home, Tyson, Lyla and Boss.

Matt says his favorite part about working at Socket is the people he works with. “I have made some good friends here at work. On that note, I have to give a shoutout to the other Field Splicers and the outside plant guys. You guys are awesome!” Congrats, Matt!