Matt is a retired attorney, advocate and government relations professional. Matt is a member of Allegheny Center Alliance church, where He came to know the Lord on January 1, 1969. Since retiring in July 2022, Matt has worked in the church and wherever called to serve the Lord. In addition to serving on the CCC Board, Matt is on the board of Bongolo Friends, an endowment created to financially support the evangelical mission of Bongolo Hospital in the jungles of Gabon, West Africa, founded by medical missionary Dr. David Thompson in the 1970s. He also serves on the board of Christians in Communications, an organization dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in the communications industry.
For nearly 30 years, Matt was responsible for the daily operations and affairs of American Connects-America’s Communications Association, a nearly 800-member national non-profit association dedicated to serving the interests of independent, smaller and medium-sized broadband, cable and phone businesses across the United States. The Association, whose cable, telephone and municipal members serve more than 10 million broadband internet subscribers primarily in smaller, rural markets and competitive areas in all 50 states and in many U.S. territories, is the only group of its kind solely representing the concerns of such independent businesses before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, other federal agencies and in the 50 states, where Matt has testified many times.
Prior to joining the Association, Matt was the Vice President and General Counsel of Pittsburgh-based Star Cable Associates from 1990-97, one of the nation's top-100 multiple-system cable companies, which specialized in the construction, operation and management of smaller, independent cable television systems in seven states. Matt worked on the Board and Executive Committee of the Association as a volunteer from 1993-97, helping to establish ACA Connects in Washington, and then joining in 1997 to create a full-time Members’ organization.
Matt is a 1982 honors graduate of West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va., where he received an undergraduate degree in journalism, magna cum laude, and was recipient of the Journalism School’s award for Outstanding Graduate in Journalism. He is also a 1986 graduate of Pittsburgh's Duquesne University School of Law, where he was editor of the Law School Newsmagazine, JURIS, and recipient of the Law School's Most Distinguished Graduate award.
In five years of private legal practice from 1986 through 1990, Matt specialized in civil litigation and corporate practice with the Pittsburgh law firms of Buchanan Ingersoll Professional Corporation and Thorp, Reed & Armstrong. Matt represented a number of independent communications clients in a variety of corporate transactions, contract negotiations and litigation matters.
Matt was frequently named a member of the CableFAX 100, and in 2009 was named a “Cable Television Pioneer,” one of the highest awards bestowed in the cable industry. Upon retiring, Matt was given the inaugural “Founders Circle” award by Cablefax Magazine for his career in the communications industry. Matt lives in the Pittsburgh area with his wife, Sharman, and their two daughters.