The quaint little university town of Alfred has a population of around a thousand citizens. It is nestled in the foothills of New York’s Allegheny Mountains within the southwestern portion of the Empire State.  Bush says that winters there can be quite cold, wet, and gloomy for weeks at a time.  He reminds us that there are only three months of the year that lend themselves to sunshine, warmer temperatures, and gardening.

After experiencing a few years of low light and bitter chill, Bush and his wife soon felt the need to ‘come home’ and rediscover the sunny climate of their native south.  Rusty recalls, “We both wanted to return to warmer weather. I really got the message when my wife Carol handed me a Burpee seed packet with a color coded climate zone chart on the back and said, “Here, I’ll move anywhere within the green zone.”  They returned to Alabama in 1992.

By 1994, Bush was a chemistry professor at Troy State's main campus.  This appointment was followed by a brief period with LBW College, a two-year community college in Andalusia, Alabama.

He began his current job as Information Technology Specialist with Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) in  2001.  AIDT is an institute recognized under Alabama’s Department of Post Secondary Education that encourages economic development through job-specific training for companies where 10 or more jobs will be generated.

In his position, Bush supports the training effort. “My job,” he says, “is to make sure the computing and telecommunication infrastructure works.”

Rusty may not be able to remember the first days he spent with his future wife, the former Carol Keener of Montgomery.  It happened they were born just three days apart in Jackson Hospital and were “nursery mates.”  It would be about 18 years before their first official meeting, which came when they were freshmen in college.  They began dating during their senior year in 1982.

Carol is the daughter of Pyron and Ann Keener.  She is the granddaughter of the late Charlie D. and Annie B. Keener of Grady.  Her parents are longtime residents of Montgomery, but her father, at age  82, still maintains the family farm in Grady.  Carol is a dietitian and works part-time for the Department of Public Health, where she trains nursing home surveyors.

Together, the Bushes have built a home in Grady, just south of “The Violet Hill.”  They share that home with 8-year-old daughter, Sarah, and 6-year-old son, Sam.  Sarah and Sam are students at the Forest Avenue Academic Magnet School in Montgomery. Rusty does contract work as a web developer, and he also provides computer training and assistance to a few neighbors.  His star pupil is Mon-Cre member George Harris, who is Webmaster for the Capitol Sounds Concert Band in Montgomery.

Spare time, if there is any, is spent "refining his computing skills."   His wife Jane refers to him as a  “computer-holic.”  Rusty also loves to read.  His favorite genre is fiction.  His most recent book – a collection of short stories entitled “The Shell Collectors,” by Anthony Doerr.

His father, Tom Bush, lives north of Ramer at Robinson Crossroads, where he is a sales representative for a liquid feed company.  His mother, Jane Bush, was a kindergarten teacher at Hooper Academy before her death in 1996.  The senior Mr. Bush is  now remarried to the former Pat Green.  The couple divides their time between  Montgomery and Pat’s Florida condominium.

Rusty Bush originally came on the Mon-Cre Board of Directors replacing Neal Roark. He was subsequently reelected to serve his own term at the annual meeting held in 2003. Bush has completed course work as required by the National Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA) This coursework earned him a citation for "Excellence in Leadership" from the NTCA.

As a member of the Board, he understands the technology of the business and that knowledge is truly an asset as the board and management continue to implement and explore new technologies. Armed with information and know-how, they face the challenges of a productive and growing telephone company to best serve its membership.

“We continue to face new industry challenges – both regulatory and competitive,” offers Bush. “We have to make sure that we provide a service that is competitive in the open market.”

He is truly proud of the level of service and the varied menu of services that Mon-Cre is able to offer its’ members, with High-Speed Internet Access as one area of particular pride.

“Even the most remote areas of the territory can be provided with the same quality phone service and other services as those near the main office,” says Bush. “Our commitment is to all members. We are a cooperative.  Our business is to provide the exact same level of service to each and every member.”

It is Rusty Bush’s belief that with  the knowledge,  guidance, and steady leadership of Mon-Cre General Manager, Jerry McGee, the Board has been able to help to  place the cooperative in a good position.  “The investment made in fiber optics was costly, but is paying back in huge dividends.  The dollars invested give  (Mon-Cre) excess capacity for new technologies that come along — perhaps video in the future or the continued upgrade in high-speed internet.”