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Tim Thompson’s CEO Column // April 2023

CEO Column, News

Appreciating LREC Employees
I am so grateful for our employees, all of whom are necessary to serve our members. It takes an entire team, and this column is dedicated to all of them.

National Lineworker Day
LREC will celebrate National Lineworker Appreciation Day on April 10th. Lineworkers are highly skilled and highly trained professionals who do what needs to be done to keep the power on for the families and businesses in our communities. Working high in the air wearing heavy equipment and working directly with high voltage creates a dangerous and unforgiving profession. I am thankful for our lineworkers who:

  • are dedicated to the people and businesses in our communities
  • always can be counted on, day or night, and in all kinds of weather, and keep others and themselves safe, regardless of the conditions
  • build and maintain the infrastructure needed by LREC to distribute electricity safely to homes and businesses
  • perform difficult and dangerous work so that we can flip a switch to light up our homes
  • get out of bed at 2:30 a.m. when it is storming, and most of us are sleeping, to do whatever they can to restore power after an outage occurs
  • have a passion for what they do and don’t want to be honored because of their humble nature and their “that’s what we’re here to do” mindset
  • are on call 24 hours a day all year-round and have families that understand they may miss a birthday party or vacation because of being needed in the field to serve our members
  • provided safety training to our employees during our recent employee appreciation day

LREC’s Dedicated Employees
Although our lineworkers are usually the most visible employees of LREC, this column is also dedicated to our employees who may not be seen as much by our members. I want to thank our highly trained and skilled professionals working behind the scenes who serve our members and:

  • provide ongoing expertise and guidance on the engineering and operations side of our cooperative
  • do whatever they can to take the calls of our members and answer questions
  • maintain safe and orderly grounds, office buildings, warehouses, and pole yards so everyone can efficiently perform their jobs
  • regularly monitor our system to protect sensitive data and provided cybersecurity training during our recent employee appreciation day
  • track and monitor all financial related data to provide the service and financial stewardship that our members deserve
  • provide key information to our members regarding our entire portfolio of energy services
  • professionally install services and equipment, monitor and maintain equipment, and safely provide power to our members
  • make sure our crews, employees, and members get communication and information processed accurately and efficiently in order for our power to stay safely on or restored
  • accurately process all billing related matters in order to ensure the financial integrity of the co-op
  • work hard to attract and retain employees, promote a culture of safety, work on policies and procedures necessary for the cooperative, and work with our employees for all personnel related matters
  • make sure important messaging gets to our members in a timely and meaningful way
  • ensure LREC is in the best position it can be for ordering materials and equipment so that they are available for our members and our system
  • strategically and proactively position our cooperative to adapt to changes

Without our employees, there could be no Lake Region Electric Cooperative. LREC employees, you are greatly appreciated! Thank you for doing everything you can to make our cooperative the best version of itself!