Watertown’s Tower System hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday

WATERTOWN, S.D.(KXLG)- Tower Systems, a Watertown, South Dakota based tower installation, design and project management company cut a Watertown Chamber sponsored ribbon at the company’s “We Rise” rebrand launch and ribbon cutting event Tuesday.  The event celebrated the heritage and history of Tower Systems as a South Dakota-based company and explained the direction headed with the “We Rise”rebrand, highlighting the role South Dakota is playing advancing 5G and broadband deployment and announcing a new Telecommunications Tower
Technician Apprenticeship Program at Lake Area Technical College. Among the guest speakers at the event was South Dakota Senator John Thune.

Also attending the ribbon cutting was Congressman Dusty Johnson.

Also attending the event was FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Todd Schlekeway with the National Association of Tower Erectors. At Tuesday’s ribbon cutting Watertown Mayor Sarah Caron proclaimed Tuesday as Bill Carlson Day in Watertown. Carlson, who is now deceased, is the founder of Tower Systems who passed away in 2019. His daughter Kari L. Carlson is the current president and CEO of the company who held became emotional talking of her father, saying the reason they were all gathered at the ribbon cutting was because of him. Mayor Caron read from the proclamation citing Carlson’s military service, start of the tower system for clients across the nation and world, and for helping improve the safety of technicians who climb and work on the communications towers.