Integra Telecom walked away with honors again by getting recognized by the Oregon business community in Oregon’s Most Admired Companies. Integra has been on the Portland Business Journal’s list every year since its inception in 2005. It moved from tenth most admired technology company in 2005 to eighth in 2006, sixth in 2007, and now to third in 2008.

Integra, which recently hired Tom Lamb as its CFO, was selected from among 97 technology companies and was the only telecom company recognized. The company provides voice, data and Internet communications to thousands of business and carrier customers in 11 Western states, including: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Integra owns and operates a fiber-optic network composed of metropolitan access networks, a tier one Internet and data network, and a 4,700-mile high-speed long haul network. It has also topped several customer loyalty and satisfaction ratings.

“We’re honored to once again be named among the most admired companies in Oregon. The past year has been a period of tremendous growth and adaptation for Integra as we continued to integrate our acquired Eschelon Telecom (News - Alert) employees, customers and systems. I’m extremely proud that these achievements have been recognized by the broader business community,” said Dudley Slater, CEO of Integra Telecom.

More than 2000 Oregon CEOs voted for companies ranking each of them on attributes such as innovation, customer service and community involvement. Award recipients were selected from eight industry categories including: technology, professional services, commercial real estate, health care, nonprofits, agriculture and forest products, financial services and traditional manufacturing.

In August of this year, Integra was named one of America's 5,000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc.com. It ranked the company at No. 1,557 on its annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country and at No. 33 in the category of gross dollars of growth. Between 2004 and 2007, Integra achieved revenue growth of 241.8%. The list is a comprehensive look at America's independent-minded entrepreneurs - an important segment of the economy.