Volume 85, Issue 7
STATE OF THE TRUST
October/November 2023
United Way Giving Campaign Results 2020 N. Meridian Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 www.citizensenergygroup.com
TRUSTEES Dennis Bland Daniel F. Evans, Jr. Jackie Nytes Mel Raines Brian Williams
UNITED WAY GIVING CAMPAIGN RESULTS 2023
$173,109 Employee Giving
$173,109 Employee Match
$346,218
Total Employee Giving
DIRECTORS
Anne Nobles, Chair Daniel Appel Moira Carlstedt Sherry D. Davis Jeffrey Good Christia Hicks J.A. Lacy Maria Quintana Nichole C. Wilson
OPERATING MANAGEMENT Jeffrey Harrison
President & Chief Executive Officer
J.P. Ghio
Vice President, Energy Operations
Mark Jacob
Vice President, Capital Programs & Engineering / Quality
Jeff Willman
Vice President, Water Operations
Craig Jackson
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sabine Karner
$26,000
$26,000 Retiree Match
Total Retiree Giving
158
771
Online auction bids
$ Raised 14,357
100
$412,575
Retiree Giving
Items donated to auction
6
Sessions held for United Way Trivia
Participants in United Way Trivia
$52,000
Online auction
Overall giving year to date / grand total
Vice President and Controller
Joseph M. Perkins, Jr.
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Joe Sutherland
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Jodi Whitney
Vice President, Human Resources & Chief Diversity Officer
Mike Strohl
Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer
John Lucas
Vice President, Information Technology
Curtis Popp
Vice President, Customer Operations
COMPANY VISION:
Enhance the well-being of our customers, communities, and employees by providing unparalleled service now and for generations to come.
COMPANY MISSION:
We fulfill the Promise of the Trust to provide essential utility services for our customers and communities, maintain the lowest possible rates with sound financial management, and create the greatest long-term benefit through a unique business structure.
ENGAUGE
Engauge is published by Citizens Energy Group, Corporate and Public Affairs Department, under the direction of Shannon Stahley, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs. It is distributed to the company’s employees and retirees, and to other interested parties upon request. The Corporate and Public Affairs Department welcomes any ideas, comments, or suggestions from readers on how this publication might better serve you. Please email the Corporate and Public Affairs Department at alowe@citizensenergygroup.com or call 317.927.4336.
On the Cover Volume 85, Issue 7
Editor:
Adam Lowe
Contributors:
Tracey Black Doug Buffington Susan Harris Brett McClellan
Graphic Arts:
Wayne Stohs Joel Bustamante
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STATE OF THE TRUST
October/November 2023
Citizens Energy Group leaders gather for State of the Trust, held September 14 at former Sharing the Dream site, Municipal Gardens Family Center. Among many noteworthy announcements were the newly refreshed Vision, Mission, and Values.
Citizens for Good: Volunteer Spotlight Our volunteer spotlight is a chance to meet a Citizens Energy Group employee who is making a big impact in the community outside of their job. Citizens employees are encouraged to volunteer at Citizens-sponsored events, or at community organizations of their choice.
Meet Terrell Al-Sharif, Meter Reader Terrell Al-Sharif has been a Meter Reader with Citizens Energy Group since 2009 and serves as an Engineer for Ladder 1 at the Indianapolis Fire Department. But Terrell’s dedication as a public servant doesn’t stop there; he also serves as Executive Director and coach at Indy Rarebreed, a wrestling academy providing inner city youth with learning and growth opportunities in the sport of wrestling.
Why is it important to you to volunteer? It is important because I feel obligated to give back and mentor the youth of our community as a coach and a public servant to the city of Indianapolis, as well as an African American male in the public sector. I believe it resonates in the minds of young people to see a male figure setting an example in a positive manner.
Tell us about Indy Rarebreed and your role at the organization. Indy Rarebreed was born from another organization of firefighters and wrestling coaches in 2015. The founder of the original program moved out of state to pursue other interests. The former organization ideas did not align with our ideas, so we branched off and created Indy Rarebreed approximately three years ago. I have inherited this opportunity to lead this organization not just as the Executive Director, but also as one of the coaches. It is a labor of love that I want to see become so much more than where we are now.
What has been your most rewarding experience volunteering for Indy Rarebreed Wrestling Academy? Creating a bond with young men who had no role models or father figures in their lives to listen, learn, and develop love for the sport as well as themselves. Helping young men become not just anybody but somebody beyond the sport of wresting. Creating opportunities for young people to go beyond their neighborhoods, this city, and even beyond state lines. We took them to tournaments outside Indianapolis and set up an opportunity for a college tour.
Terrell Al-Sharif, right, with a member of his team.
About Indy Rarebreed Indy Rarebreed Wrestling Academy 2215 W. Washington St. (George Washington Community High School) Indianapolis, IN 46222 Terrell Al-Sharif – Executive Directorindyrarebreedwrestlingacademy@gmail.com 317-721-7077
Indy Rarebreed is an academy using wrestling as the active vehicle to increase the opportunity for inner city youth to learn, grow, and advance in the sport of wrestling earlier than the norm. The program develops self-defense, self-esteem, discipline, as well as teaching health and fitness practices to youth ages 5 to 18. Indy Rarebreed is in need of additional funding, coaches, and volunteers. They are also looking to advance their program and increase their numbers to expose more children to the sport. Indy Rarebreed has opportunities for coaches, mentors, tutors, and board members. There are opportunities for others to get accredited for volunteering and community engagement. “Volunteers are the pulse of the organization. They bring in smiles, a hard-work ethic, and passion for being a part of something. That is something money cannot replace,” Terrell shares.
The Indy Rarebreed Wrestling Academy team.
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STATE OF THE TRUST NAVIGATING OUR FUTURE
The annual State of the Trust event was held on Thursday, September 14 at a former Sharing the Dream site, Municipal Gardens Family Center, highlighting news and accomplishments from fiscal year 2023 and providing a roadmap for how we will navigate our future. The following is a summary of the address:
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Our dedicated employees rise to the occasion every day in the name of customer satisfaction, often going the extra mile to get the job done. Citizens recognizes the efforts of employees who provide superior customer service based on the Best Practices of Owning the Customer Experience through the Customer Champion Awards. We must continue to anticipate and meet customers’ needs, both in providing them with safe, reliable service and enhancing their well-being. Improving how customers do business with us is equally as important as going above and beyond to serve them.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Prioritizing leadership development is critical to attracting and retaining talent, particularly with 30 percent of Citizens’ workforce eligible to retire over the next five years. As an organization continuously working to develop employee skills and competencies necessary to meet the evolving needs of the Trust, we must offer relevant and high-quality leadership development opportunities. Equally as important is ensuring that employees serving in all roles within the Trust be afforded these opportunities. To that end, we will establish a leadership development program for front-line employees.
FINANCIAL INTEGRITY Inflation and supply chain issues continue to loom over all of our businesses. In the face of these challenges, we must make a concerted effort to foster a cost-conscious culture in which employees feel personally invested in fulfilling business needs while making smart purchasing decisions and wisely allocating resources. We also must champion innovation and holistic thinking. Accordingly, we will develop a roadmap to identify top short-term and long-term system-growth opportunities.
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PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE Citizens Lean and Six Sigma (CLASS) is a key driver of our efforts to realize performance excellence. CLASS speaks directly to our responsibility to consistently evaluate our business operations to eliminate waste and provide our customers with value, quality, and safe and reliable services. Under this strategic goal, we will establish a roadmap for metering and perform valuestream mapping for critical business processes.
NAVIGATING OUR FUTURE When we entered fiscal year 2023, we set the tone for People, Purpose, and Passion driving success. Thanks to our employees’ dedication and hard work over the past year, we have built tremendous momentum in the midst of some challenging times. It is imperative that we stay focused, exercise diligence, and continue to innovate in order to sustain our momentum and skillfully navigate our future. We will address our challenges and navigate our future with the confidence and preparedness instilled by a comprehensive strategic plan, a strong workplace culture, and a shared passion for our Strategic Goals. A highlight of our future-driven mindset is the recent update to our vision, mission, and values.
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INTRODUCING OUR UPDATED
Vision, Mission, and Values Citizens Energy Group recently introduced an update to our vision, mission, and values. While the core principles of the vision, mission, and values remain the same, they have been refreshed to be more inclusive of employees and beneficiaries of the Trust and to better align with our One Company, One Culture; Voice of the Customer; and Sustainability efforts. How does this impact the Trust? While the intent of our vision, mission, and values remains unchanged, it’s important to understand “the why” behind our business, the major impact it has on the community, and how we explain it to stakeholders. Every employee plays a significant role in helping us achieve our Brand Promise and the Promise of the Trust.
VISION Enhance the well-being of our customers, communities, and employees by providing unparalleled service now and for generations to come. • “Promise of the Trust” has been removed, and shifted to our mission. • The updated vision focuses on service and commitment to our stakeholders, while maintaining the aspirational desire to serve and positively impact the lives of customers and employees in perpetuity.
MISSION We fulfill the Promise of the Trust to provide essential utility services for our customers and communities, maintain the lowest possible rates with sound financial management, and create the greatest long-term benefit through a unique business structure. • The mission reiterates what we do and what makes us unique. • The mission states “we fulfill the Promise of the Trust,” rather than “we will fulfill the Promise of the Trust,” to reflect that our employees are actively and purposefully fulfilling that promise every day. • The statement “unique business structure” has been added to separate us from other utility service providers. Citizens is the only broad-based utility service company operating as a public charitable trust.
VALUES • Leadership and Stewardship have been added as values. • Quality has been removed from the list and has intentionally been incorporated into our other values, as well as our mission and vision. • The wording has been changed to illustrate how quality and continuous improvement are integral to realizing many of our refreshed values.
SAFETY We protect our employees and communities by committing to the highest standards of safety, reliability, and quality. • We have incorporated the messaging of protecting our employees and communities. • Reliability and quality align with our vision.
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INTEGRITY We conduct our business with honesty, transparency, and accountability. • Transparency has replaced openness to better demonstrate the seriousness of Citizens’ dedication to integrity. • Accountability has been added.
INCLUSION We foster a diverse culture where everyone is respected, valued, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives and talents. We actively listen and adapt to ensure that our services are accessible, equitable, and responsive to the needs of the communities we serve. • Inclusion has replaced diversity as a value, as it better represents the principles we follow and how we value diverse contributions in an inclusive culture. • Diversity remains present in the value’s description and is a fundamental element of inclusion, which cannot exist without the presence of diversity.
COLLABORATION We provide superior customer service through teamwork. We engage with our employees, customers, and communities for the betterment and success of all. • Teamwork has been replaced with collaboration. While teamwork is a fundamental principle of how Citizens conducts business, the term collaboration better expresses the nature of our cross-functional teams, and the partnerships we’ve developed with customers, partners, and stakeholders.
LEADERSHIP We prepare and empower all employees to be leaders at work and within the communities we live, and to inspire, innovate, and continuously improve our processes, services, and ourselves. • This new value emphasizes the empowerment of all Citizens employees to be leaders in all situations, in demonstrating quality, supporting customer satisfaction, and in dedication to the community.
STEWARDSHIP We invest in solutions and infrastructure to deliver long-term value and improve the quality of life for our customers and our communities. • Our second new value emphasizes our commitment to community and the environment, and our solemn responsibility to serve both responsibly, while balancing the priorities we face as a utility.
Meet the Team Behind the Update Updating Citizens Energy Group’s vision, mission, and values was no small undertaking. Co-led by Abed Darwish, Director IT Business Solutions, and Meechelle Parker Riley, Supplier Diversity Program Manager, the cross-functional team of 16 began work in April 2023. Abed Darwish joined the company in 2003 when it was Citizens Gas & VALUES VISION MISSION Coke Utility, on a short-term contract with the IT Support Center. Now in his twenty-first year at Citizens, Abed shared, “From my first day, I was captivated by everyone’s sense of purpose and devotion to the mission. I had never considered working for a company that truly had a greater purpose than to simply return a profit or dividend. As I learned more about the Citizens culture, its beneficiaries, and the Promise of the Trust from other employees, I quickly realized that this was where I wanted to be.” Meechelle Parker Riley joined Citizens in 2021 in the role she holds today. The mission of Citizens aligned with where she wanted to be: “I was attracted to Citizens because I was that candidate who reviewed the company mission and I felt like it aligned with how I live my life.” On forming the cross-functional team, Meechelle shared, “As co-leads of the vision, mission, and values initiative, we wanted to ensure the team consisted of individuals who would not only bring transparent feedback but also a level of dedicated enthusiasm to these efforts. With the help of other leaders, we identified a diverse group of Citizens employees from various departments, experience levels, leadership roles, and backgrounds. We are grateful for the value each member of the team brought to the efforts.” The team evaluated the current vision, mission, and values; conducted workshops; spoke with employees, customers, and stakeholders; and facilitated internal and external focus groups. The new vision, mission, and values emphasize the competitive advantage of the Trust and the benefit to our employees and those we serve. On the legacy of the updates, Meechelle explained “We hope the legacy of these updates is that employees will see themselves included as a part of vision, mission, and values and connect their work to them. The team was intentional in using the word ‘employees’ throughout the revised statements. We think it would be beneficial to review the vision, mission, and values in another seven to eight years. Through introspection and thought, employees can find significant meaning and purpose through the principles that have been used to construct this new evolution, which have guided the actions of Citizens for more than 135 years.
Vision, Mission, Values Cross-Functional Team Members Name
Title
Team Role
Abed Darwish
Director IT Business Solutions
Team Lead
Meechelle Parker
Supplier Diversity Program Manager
Team Lead
Jennifer Bailey
Director of Treasury
Member
Erin O'Leary
Performance Excellence Project Manager
Coordinator
Melissa Lawson
Director Shared Field Services
Member
Tony Cunningham
Organizational Development & Training Manager
Member
Camela Johnson
Senior Manager Accounting
Member
Jeff Hansen
Director Wastewater Plant Operations
Member
Mike Sullivan
Director Energy Distribution Engineering
Member
Daphne Chiu
Manager Resource Recovery
Member
Shannon Stahley
Director of Corporate & Public Affairs
Member
Jeff Guinn
Supervisor Pretreatment Programs
Member
Vincent Stewart II
Manager Wastewater Maintenance
Member
Jodi Whitney
Vice President Human Resources & Chief Diversity Officer
Executive Sponsor
Craig Jackson
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Executive Sponsor
Sabine Karner
Vice President & Controller
Executive Sponsor
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Q&A Meet Shelby Sawyers, Field Service and Training Development Supervisor Shelby Sawyers worked briefly at Citizens Energy Group in 2014 in the customer service lobby. She returned to Citizens in 2020 as a Distribution Dispatcher and was promoted to Field Service and Training Development Supervisor in October. Prior to joining the Citizens team, she was an event manager at a nonprofit in Atlanta, Georgia.
1. What do you enjoy about your job? I enjoy that every day is different. Each day comes with new challenges and new opportunities. I personally enjoy watching new Shared Field Services team members quickly learn the business, act with urgency, and collaborate to support the needs of customers.
2. Tell us about your team and what you are responsible for at Citizens. In my role as Field Service and Training Development Supervisor, I work with our dispatch and field employees to deliver training and develop curriculum. My team performs training for all new dispatchers during their first year as they advance from distribution dispatcher to senior dispatcher. Additionally, my team ensures all dispatchers, field supervisors, and field employees have the training they need to properly use Citizens’ new field service management application—KloudGin.
3. What do you appreciate about working at Citizens? Working at Citizens has provided me countless opportunities to learn. I have learned from several Customer Field Service technicians during field ridealongs. I have learned from different members of Engineering, Wastewater, Gas Distribution, Gas Supply, and more during training presentations they have offered to Dispatch. I’ve also had the opportunity to obtain my master’s degree during my time at Citizens.
4. Something you may not know about Shelby: Shelby has traveled to more than 20 countries, 15 of which she visited within one year. After graduating from Indiana University, she spent the following year traveling to parts of Southeast Asia, South Central Africa, and Eastern Europe working with local nonprofits and disaster relief organizations. “In Thailand, my team partnered with an anti-trafficking organization that owns a café where they employ young people who have been rescued and rehabilitated. The staff and volunteers work alongside these young people in the café and also hold free English classes in the mornings. At night, staff and volunteers visit touristy areas known for trafficking. During the day, our team helped with English classes, washed dishes, and made smoothies. At night, our team went to a variety of locations, and if we met someone who showed signs of being trafficked, we got to know them a little bit and invited them to our English class. I was surprised by the number of people who joined the English classes while we were there. Staff from the organization were able to work very closely with each person and determine next steps.”
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Safety Tip: What is the Energy Wheel? The Energy Wheel is a tool to help industrial workers identify more of the safety hazards they encounter at work. This diagram calls out 10 sources of potential illness and injury common on industrial worksites to help overcome people’s cognitive biases about situations they consider safe or unsafe. The Energy Wheel is a tool that helps utility workers recognize sources of energy on job sites that pose risk of injury. Injury prevention scholar Dr. William Haddon pioneered the idea that every illness or injury results from unwanted contact with some sort of energy. The Energy Wheel uses that principle to help workers identify sources of energy common on worksites that pose potential injury, including the sources they naturally miss. “Our research showed that some hazards are instinctual … while others are processed through complex thought,” says Dr. Matthew Hallowell, professor of construction engineering at University of Colorado Boulder, and specialist in construction safety. “The hazard types that we process instinctually are gravity, motion, and ‘moving mechanical.’ We tend to see those first and most often.” Humans process these instinctual hazards in the amygdala, a part of the brain Source: Urbint.com associated with emotion and emotional responses. The fight-or-flight reaction these hazards provoke actually bypasses conscious thought and stirs up people before they even notice the danger. But plenty of other hazards don’t trigger this response. “Tension, compression, torque, pressurized systems, and changing surface temperature are examples of hazards that require complex thought and are more likely to be missed during normal hazard scans,” says Dr. Hallowell. By using the Energy Wheel, utilities can call their workers’ attention to these hazards they may have missed. Organizations can use the Wheel’s icons to label hazards they find on site or walk through each hazard step-by-step during safety briefings and toolbox talks. “It helps frontline workers to be more effective in performing the safety activities that they are already performing,” says Dr. Hallowell. “The Energy Wheel simply helps us to identify more hazards, more easily.”
Energy Efficiency Tip: Take a Whole-House Approach to Save Energy This Winter No matter what kind of heating system you have in your home, you can save money and increase your comfort by properly maintaining and upgrading your equipment. But remember, an energy-efficient furnace alone will not have as big of an impact on your energy bills as using the whole-house approach. By combining proper equipment maintenance and upgrades with recommended insulation, air sealing, and thermostat settings, you can save about 30% on your energy bill while reducing environmental emissions. Here are a few tips: • Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and lower the temperature when you’re sleeping or away from home. • Clean or replace filters on furnaces once per month or as recommended by the manufacturer. • Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed and make sure they’re not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes. • Turn off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are finished cooking or bathing. When replacing exhaust fans, consider installing high-efficiency, low-noise models. • In the winter, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home. Don’t forget to close them at night! Select energy-efficient products when you buy new heating equipment. Your contractor should be able to give you energy fact sheets for different types, models, and designs to help you compare energy usage.
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Quality Corner Thanks to everyone’s hard work, the FY23 year-end CLASS results included a total of 551 employees participating in CLASS activities with 98 projects completed! These projects benefited the organization by reducing the time needed for business activities by 10,442 hours. The financial benefits from the projects were estimated to be $1,411,209. Thank you to everyone for the ideas, project work, and use of CLASS tools to realize these benefits.
FY23 Levels of Quality Congratulations The following areas achieved the highest possible recognition in the CLASS Levels of Quality—6 stars! • Energy Distribution Engineering • Gas Transmission & Distribution/Gas Supply • Shared Field Services • Underground Engineering & Construction • Wastewater Collections • Wastewater Plant Operations • Water Distribution • Water Production/Water Quality Planning & System Control • Westfield Operations
CLASS Belt Certifications YELLOW BELT Weld X-Ray Record Keeping • Project Leader: Allen Barker (Energy Distribution Engineering) • Team Members: Ky Kizzee, Dennis Peckinpaugh • Allen Barker’s project developed a process to improve the quality of capturing the current required X-rays of each weld performed on transmission pipelines. The solution was to partner with NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) contractors to start capturing X-rays digitally and then develop a process to receive and store the digital files and reports as PDFs to eliminate image degradation and storage issues. The digital files allow the weld images and reports to be combined in MOView and Esri as an asset for instant access. • Benefits: The primary measurable benefit is annual cost savings of $21,548. Other intangible benefits include better image quality and no degradation over time. There is a 95% increase in the quality and resolution of each image, and access to reports and images is instant. Images can be viewed in the office or in the field as PDFs or printed. The ability to store digital files on the cloud platform eliminates storing film in boxes in long-term offsite facilities. The ability to attach reports and images as assets in MOView and ESRI exceeds expectations for regulator compliance rules. pH Control • Project Leader: Michael Farris (Thermal) • Team Members: Bob Donelson, Steve Botkin, Brian Tyler, Anthony Marocco, James Townsend • Chilled Water’s incoming steam pH is controlled by nightly testing. Through Michael Farris’s project, a sampling system was installed to continuously monitor and provide real time feedback, allowing plant operations personnel to read the pH levels from the control room. This ensures equipment is consistently performing at its peak ability. • Benefits: Since installation of the inline monitoring system and allowing the Foxboro control system to take over and make changes to the pump as necessary, pH has been more consistent. Not only did this create a steady trend of pH reading, but it also allowed Operations to not have to manually adjust the pump for the past four weeks, which has saved around 30 hours so far (an annual savings of 390 hours). Special Discharge Agreement • Project Leader: Nathaniel Berg (Environmental Stewardship) • Team Members: Cheryl Carlson, Jeff Guinn, Beth Noel • Nate Berg’s project developed a comprehensive special discharge agreement request form with additional fields and an instruction page that conveys the information needed for evaluation of a Special Discharge Agreement. The new form covers all aspects of requirements and was implemented May 1, 2023. • Benefits: Time spent on applications has been significantly reduced. On average, forms received using the new form have taken just under three days, while forms received using the old form took around 10 days, with some taking more than a month to be approved. A side benefit that isn’t yet measurable is that annual payments by customers and contractors should increase and be more timely, as staff are now reminded when fees are due. 10 Engauge - October/November 2023
CSA Training Request and Catalog • Project Leader: Tony Cunningham (Human Resources) • Team Member: Zoya Barker • Tony Cunningham’s project automated the CSA Training Request process by using the CSA email address coupled with a ticketing system that catalogs all incoming requests. A Microsoft form was developed to capture the initial needs of the requestor. • Benefits: The new form has reduced the average request-to-completion timeline (previously 10 days in total) to a one-day response time and two-day completion, on average. Since the rollout of the completed process, nine total requests have been received.
ADVANCED YELLOW BELT PERL Idea Portal • Project Leader: Joe Nagy (project credit goes to Underground Engineering & Construction) • Team Member: Becky Schaefer • Joe Nagy’s project established an efficient and consistent process for developing and generating potential Partnership for Excellence in Research and Learning (PERL) projects before requests for projects are received from partner universities. This will reduce the effort and time required to gather ideas when project requests are received. • Benefits: Since launching the portal in May 2022, 13 ideas have been generated, two projects have been used by universities, and two projects are assigned to be used in fall 2023. IT Platform Change Quality Assurance • Project Leader: Carla Baber (Information Technology) • Carla Baber’s project established a standard method for testing IT platform or security changes so application owners can easily verify all applicable tests have been performed. This method confirms that there are no known issues prior to a production release of changes or updates by utilizing a component of Java (X-ray) that maintains test scripts for IT’s critical applications. • Benefits: Two applications have added their test scripts, and the remaining 13 will add the scripts in FY24 as part of upgrades and changes. This provides consistency to the testing process as well as visibility of any issues to the application owner prior to releasing for production.
Recently Completed Just Do It Projects Just Do It projects are a great way to continuously improve something where the solution is already known. This doesn’t mean it necessarily has to be a quick or simple project; it just doesn’t go through the DMAIC process. Just Do It projects can still make a big impact in efficiency and savings. All completed Just Do It projects can be found on Quality’s CI Activities and Completed Projects page. • Automate IMD Exception: Mary Benge (Billing & Customer Service) • Underground Maintenance Fitter (UMF) List of Duties: Rusty Anderson (Water Distribution) • Permit Forms: Jared New (Water Distribution) • Sewer Repairs & Installations: Jim Allen (Water Distribution) • Program & Process Control Service Requests: Ryan Sidler (Program & Technical Services) • Insurance Property Asset Addresses: Ann Shutters (Accounting) • Gas Field Work Public Awareness: John Eddington (Gas)
Recent Yellow Belt Training On September 19 and 21, eight employees completed Quality’s two-day CLASS Yellow Belt training. Participants included Breanne Fite (Human Resources), Dear Schramm-Satayathum (Legal), Zoya Barker (Human Resources), Courtney Trickle (Accounting), Chris Henly (Wastewater Plant Operations), Adrianne Council (Program & Technical Services), Cierra Howard (Program & Technical Services), and James No (Accounting)
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Accepting Jefferson Award Nominations through December 31 If you know coworkers or retirees who are making a difference through service to their community, consider nominating them for a Jefferson Award. Citizens Energy Group is proud to partner with Multiplying Good to promote the value of community service by recognizing outstanding volunteers among our workforce. Citizens is excited to be able to name one employee or retiree as a Jefferson Award winner in 2024 to recognize their commitment to making a difference in the community through selfless acts. The winner will represent Citizens at the annual awards ceremony. All full-time and part-time employees and retirees are eligible for nomination, and self-nominations are welcome. Nominations must be received by December 31 to be considered for the 2024 award. Find the form online at bit.ly/JeffAwardsCitizens2023.
IFD Firefighters Partner with Citizens Energy Group in “Badges for Burn Camp” Hydrant Project
The Indianapolis Fire Department once again teamed up with Citizens Energy Group to paint the town teal and raise money for a good cause. IFD recruits from Class #88 spent the morning of July 30 cleaning and re-painting Citizens-owned hydrants in the IFD service district. Assistance was provided by several Citizens employees in the Water Distribution department under the supervision of Paul Dicken, Director Water Distribution. The event dubbed “Badges for Burn Camp” is part of an initiative for IFD recruit firefighters to engage in a community service project beyond their commitment to serve.
Nominate a Coworker for a Customer Champion Award Employees are encouraged to share “wow” stories about coworkers that demonstrate the best practices of owning the customer experience: closing the loop, making it personal, challenging the process, acting with urgency, identifying unvoiced needs, collaborating, knowing the business, and continuously improving. Nominations are due quarterly, with deadlines approaching on December 31. Just click on the Customer Champion logo from the iTrust home page.
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Employees Paint Next DigIndy Mural On September 27, Citizens Energy Group employees came together to paint the next DigIndy Art Project mural. The DigIndy Art Project was started in 2018 to use public art to raise awareness of the DigIndy Tunnel System, a 28-mile network of tunnels located 250 feet under the city. This year, as our partnership continues with Big Car Collaborative, we worked with artist Julie Xiao to create a paint-by-numbers mural inspired by our chilled water operations. The mural is now on display at our satellite chilled water plant at 817 N. Illinois Street. Keep an eye out for a video detailing the process!
Fall Fishing Tournament Winners Congratulations to the employees and guests pictured below for being named winners in Citizens Energy Group’s annual fall fishing tournament, held September 16 at Cecil M. Hardin Lake at the Raccoon State Recreation Area. Money collected from entry fees and donations, totaling nearly $1,000 across the spring and fall tournaments, will be donated to Riley Hospital for Children. First Place: Randy Scott, Machine Operator and Randy Scott, Machine Operator – largemouth bass weighing 3.385 pounds (yes, both team members are Machine Operators named Randy Scott) Second Place: Brad Hostetler, Construction Specialist VI and Ron Sanders, Wastewater Field Operations Supervisor – largemouth bass weighing 2.715 pounds
Geist Cleanup a Big Success Citizens Energy Group and our partner Black & Veatch collected approximately 100 pounds of trash from the Fall Creek Road Causeway on Geist Reservoir on September 8. While it is regrettable that approximately 100 pounds of litter was expelled in this area, one volunteer found a $50 bill, showing it pays to clean up! A huge thanks to the City of Fishers and their commitment to enhancing the enjoyment of the community through hosting corporate action days like the annual Geist Cleanup.
Citizens Energy Group and Black & Veatch team celebrate finding a $50 (Photo by: Citizens Energy Group)
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Second Annual Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund Golf Outing Raises $60,000 More than 180 individuals on 46 teams gathered at the Eagle Creek Golf Club on September 12 to raise funds for the Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund, honoring the late Yvonne Perkins and her work to provide educational opportunities for Hoosiers. Tracey Black, Engineer II in Capital Programs & Engineering and coordinator of the annual event, shared, “I want to thank all the volunteers, as we truly couldn’t do it without them. Abby Robbins, IT Business Relationship Consultant I, was pivotal in helping to coordinate 30 volunteers for the event.” Tracey continued, “The amount of people who attend this event and their generosity amazes me every year. I’m happy to be a part of something that is giving back so much to the community, and it’s exciting that there have now been two grants approved as part of the Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund.” As Tracey shared, the Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund board has voted to approve two grants. The first is for a total of $30,000 paid over three years to Ivy Cares. Ivy Cares is part of Ivy Tech and provides wraparound services for students to help them achieve their educational goals in Indianapolis. Services include assistance with housing, transportation, meals, and utilities. The second grant is for a total of $21,000 paid over three years to the Latinas Welding Guild, which offers job training and job placement for marginalized groups. Yvonne Perkins, who passed away in 2016, was a servant leader; a distinguished alumna of Indianapolis Public Schools and Butler University; a longtime Citizens Energy Group executive; and a tireless advocate for improving the quality of life in Indianapolis. As a tribute to her memory, the Fund continues impactful workforce development initiatives, enhancing access to meaningful educational and career opportunities while specifically reducing disparities for members of the Black community and other diverse groups including veterans and members of reentry programs.
The Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund Board Chair: J.P. Ghio, Citizens Energy Group Vice President Energy Operations Vice Chair: Rachel Doba, DB Engineering Secretary: Mark Jacob, Citizens Energy Group Vice President of Capital Programs & Engineering and Quality Systems Treasurer: Jennifer Bailey, Citizens Energy Group Director of Treasury Olivia Hawbaker, Citizens Energy Group Manager Engineering Benjamin Reed, B.E. REED, LLC Amy Smitley, ARCADIS
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In honoring Yvonne Perkins, Mark Jacob, Vice President, Capital Programs & Engineering and Quality Systems, shared, “Yvonne was such an impactful person in our community, and this helps, in some small way, to keep her legacy going. We cannot fully address underemployment, but the Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund begins to offer opportunities to members of our community to reach their full potential. We hope to establish an endowment for the fund and begin to expand the ‘touches’ we provide to our community members.” The Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund golf outing raised more than $60,000 and was attended by numerous Citizens employees and representatives of Citizens’ partner companies. At the event, Jeffrey Harrison, President & CEO, and John Trypus, Director Underground Engineering and Construction, thanked participants for their support over the last several years. In addition, Yvonne’s grandson Davyd Hall spoke about his grandmother’s legacy. TSW Solutions once again served as title sponsor.
New Hires
Danielle Buffington Corporate Support Services
Evan Griffith
Corporate Support Services
Zechariah Jenkins Corporate Support Services
Michael Scott
Corporate Support Services
Zachary Cottrell Corporate Support Services
Dereck Hamilton Corporate Support Services
Paul Kuzma
Skyler Dobson
Corporate Support Services
Mark Hanley
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Support Services
Jose Garrido
Donald Gendren Wastewater
Corporate Support Services
Tisara Hardy
Oshsanae Harrell
Aaliah Hernandez
Keaton Holsinger
Garry Rike
Matthew Sandlin
Tara Durgans
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Support Services
Hunter Lyford
Rosemary Meagher Josiah Pheuisomphou
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Support Services
Callan Shockey
Kody Showers
Luther Stroder
Steam
Wastewater
Corporate Support Services
Gas
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Support Services
Wastewater
Dane Gretter
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Support Services
Aaron Whitley
Corporate Support Services
Engauge - October/November 2023 15
2020 North Meridian Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
In Memoriam We are saddened to report the recent passing of one retiree. Bobby Majors on October 6, 2023. He retired on September 30, 2001 after 21 years of service.
Service Awards October
Dennis Claffey
40 Years Corporate Support Services
40 Years Corporate Support Services
Katrina Revere
30 Years Corporate Support Services
Timothy Salts
35 Years Corporate Support Services
Tony Traylor
Frank Grannan
Scott Griffith
Michael Jones
Christine Russell
10 Years Water
Brett McClellan
Kim Brokering
5 Years Water
5 Years Corporate Support Services
5 Years Corporate Support Services
Jose Cabrera
Latrice Davis
25 Years Thermal
Daniel Campbell
Michael Miller
10 Years Corporate Support Services
10 Years Corporate Support Services
Tammy Isenhower
5 Years Corporate Support Services
November
Phillip Burba
5 Years Corporate Support Services
5 Years Corporate Support Services
5 Years Corporate Support Services
Deborah Foster
5 Years Corporate Support Services
Steven Fox
Anthony Isenberger
Donovan Keith
David Lolla-Martinez
Danny Mcmillian
Stephen Rowe
Elijah Stock
Shelby White
5 Years Water
5 Years Water
5 Years Corporate Support Services
5 Years Corporate Support Services
5 Years Thermal
5 Years Water
5 Years Water
5 Years Gas
5 Years Corporate Support Services