Ann Schweisguth calls it a dream come true.

Schweisguth, a Washington County native, is the newly appointed executive director of the South Washington County Telecommunications Commission. SWCTC is the cable television franchising authority that covers Woodbury, Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Newport, and Grey Cloud Island Township.

Schweisguth says her seventh-grade fandom of the Oprah Winfrey Show sparked her interest in working in television.

”I went off to college at Bemidji State University and worked at the PBS station up there, and I worked at the campus TV station as the news director as a freshman, and I loved it,” she said. “I thought, ‘How cool of a job is this?’ ”

After college, Schweisguth made her way back home and was looking for a place to work, which landed her at SWCTC in 2000.

“I was kind of an intern before interns were a thing. Then they started paying me, and I started cable casting city meetings, and shortly after they hired me as a full-time producer,” Schweisguth said. “Twenty-five years later and I’m still here!”

Schweisguth describes SWCTC as a community media center. SWCTC live streams civic meetings and helps cities put together audio-visual projects, but it also tells stories about the people who live, work, and play locally.

Schweisguth had previously served as executive director in an interim capacity when her predecessor left the organization at the end of 2023. The choice to move away from producing videos was a tough one, but she found herself pleasantly surprised with how much she enjoyed her new role.

In addition to her new title, there are several exciting changes in the future for SWCTC. Its current building is in Cottage Grove, but SWCTC will be moving into the renovated Central Park building in Woodbury, when that project is completed in mid-2025. In addition to its television broadcasting, SWCTC will also be starting up a radio station in 2025 or 2026.

One final initiative in the future for SWCTC is a new name. Schweisguth said the new title will be launched around mid-2025.

One of Schweisguth’s favorite things about her job is the opportunity it’s given her to get to know people in the county.

“I always think it’s such an honor that somebody talks to me and shares things about their life with me, and they trust me enough to tell their story.”