Sam Cipoletti
Director - Government Relations

Sam Cipolett is Director - Government Relations and manages the external affairs of Verizon in Huntington and Wheeling. He began his career with Verizon in 1987 as a public relations specialist.

In 1994, Cipoletti assumed the position of Manager - Government Relations & External Affairs. He is responsible for statewide government relations on behalf of the company and acts as a corporate lobbyist. He is also the area manager for Verizon. In this latter job, he is responsible for corporate citizenship programs, education and economic development support, local government relations, and customer relations.

Cipoletti currently serves on the boards of the Regional Contracting Assistance Center, the United Way of the Kanawha Valley and he is the 2001 chair of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce.Cipoletti graduated from West Virginia University in 1973 (Bachelors in Public Relations) and in 1974 (Masters of Public Administration). Prior to joining the company, he worked for the State of West Virginia as an industrial development representative; for Devman, Inc. as VP - Business Development; and for National Bank of Commerce (now Huntington Banks) as VP - Marketing.

Cipoletti resides in Charleston and has four children, Ellen , Doug, Ann and Grace.

He formerly held jobs in university relations at WVU, Monongahela Power Company and West Virginia Public Broadcasting. He lives in South Charleston with wife Lynn and son Connor.

Joe B. Long
Director -- Corporate Communications

Joe B. Long is Director of Corporate Communications and manages the external affairs of Verizon in  the Parkersburg and Beckley areas. He is also responsible for the Verizon Foundation in West Virginia.

Before joining Verizon in 1982, Joe was a newspaper editor and reporter, and worked briefly in the coal industry. He is a 1974 graduate of the School of

Journalism at West Virginia University, where he is the professional adviser to public relations students and an adjunct professor. He is a nationally accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America, a past president of the West Virginia Chapter of PRSA and in 1996 was named the Outstanding Public Relations Practitioner of the Year. He also co-chairs the local chapter's accreditation program.

He serves as an advisory board member for the West Virginia State University Extension Service, and is a member of the Edison Junior High School Partnership in Education.  He was appointed in 2007 to the Wood County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).

He, his wife and their daughter live in Sissonville.