Currents-October 2022

OCTOBER 2022

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE:

AROUND THE COMMUNITY Everyone’s a winner in the second annual “Food Fight” KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Northwest Lineman College prepares SVEC linemen

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS October 2022

Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2022. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

What cooperatives build Every October, while many of our consumer-members are prepping their Halloween costumes and spooky decorations, everyone here at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative is preparing to mark a different occasion. That’s because October is also National Cooperative Month, when we have the opportunity to appreciate the important role cooperatives play across the country.

When you read this issue of our newsletter, you may even discover that some of your favorite products and services are provided by co-ops.

When SVEC was first incorporated decades ago, the people here faced the prospect of being left behind by a new technology. Electric power was already changing lives in the major cities, but investor-owned power companies didn’t see the profit in bringing it to rural communities with low population densities. They would have to build miles of line to reach a few customers.

That’s when the people of this area decided to build that service themselves. Back then, it wasn’t entirely clear whether the cooperative model would succeed. But with some hard work and energetic recruiting, those earliest consumer-members built something lasting. Today, there are nearly 900 electric cooperatives across the country similar to ours.

They are still going strong and powering the lives of more than 42 million people.

The cooperative principles have

2 | October 2022

had a big part to play in that longevity.

They guide everything we do, from being an active member of our community to the democratic member control that distinguishes cooperatives from so many other businesses.

You can take a closer look at those principles in this newsletter. You can even learn a little bit about non-electric cooperatives.

However, those cooperative principles wouldn’t count for much if we weren’t also dedicated to our mission of bringing you safe and reliable electric service at affordable rates. Doing that requires employees at every level of the cooperative to continue training and keep up with changing best practices. That’s why, back in 2014, we teamed up with Northwest Lineman College to build an apprentice lineman program tailored for SVEC’s crews.

Over the last eight years that program has continued to grow.

Just last year we started offering scholarships to aspiring SVEC lineworkers, giving them the chance to fast-track their development and opening the door to a great career.

You can read more about these efforts in this newsletter.

It’s just one more way this cooperative creates opportunity for those in our community while ensuring that our members enjoy the high standard of electric service they deserve. I know I’m proud of the hard work our employees put in daily to be the best at what they do. 

WE BELONG TO THOSE WE SERVE Business Office: 800-447-4509 11340 100th St. Live Oak, FL 32060 Lobby Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday Drive-thru Kiosk Open 24 Hours 24/7 Power Outage Reporting 800-752-0025 svec-coop.com facebook.com/sveccoop @SVEC_COOP_FL Instagram.com/sveccoop SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

On the cover: Since 2014, SVEC has partnered with the Northwest Lineman College to provide off-site training for apprentice lineworkers. See story, Page 4.

Suwannee Valley Currents

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NATIONAL COOPERATIVE MONTH

Celebrate all that co-ops build in our community Cooperatives across the country are celebrating National Cooperative Month in October. This year’s theme is “Co-ops Build Economic Power,” and that’s certainly true here at SVEC. We are proud to play our part in keeping local businesses running and continuing to create new economic opportunities with the launch of Rapid Fiber Internet. This new service will bring high-speed internet access to homes and businesses in the SVEC service area when construction begins next year.

SVEC is proud to be one of 900 electric cooperatives in the country that serve about 42 million people. Every single one is guided by the same cooperative principles that remind us of our responsibilities. 

DID YOU KNOW? There are cooperatives across the U.S. that provide a range of services, not just electricity. For example, grocery co-ops allow customers to share in the profits and decision making for their local stores, where even non-members can shop.

Financial co-ops, like credit unions, provide traditional banking services while being owned and democratically run by members.

In fact, many people might not realize that some of their favorite brands are cooperatives.

BIG BUSINESS Cooperatives help build an economy that works for everyone. Even during periods of inflation and supply chain challenges, the cooperative model provides stability and opportunity. In 2020 alone, the top cooperatives in the country brought in more than $226 billion in revenue.

TOP 100 CO-OPS IN AMERICA BY INDUSTRY 2020 REVENUE ($BILLIONS)

Agriculture

123.3

Grocery

29.3

Finance

25.8

Energy

20.4

Hardware

14.0

Other

13.3

Suwannee Valley Currents

October 2022 | 3

LEARNING THE ROPES

Northwest Lineman College gives students hands-on experience in their field.

Apprentice training gives new lineworkers a leg up

No matter how long you’ve been on the job, we could all use training from time to time. That’s especially true for the lineworkers at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, where a careless mistake could put lives at risk.

Since 2014, SVEC has partnered with Northwest Lineman College (NLC) to provide off-site training for both new hires and experienced lineworkers looking to brush up on the latest techniques. While the cooperative provides its own job and safety training, the college offers unique benefits.

“With the off-site training, our apprentice linemen get to build a little camaraderie among themselves when they’re all starting this career together,” says SVEC Director of Operations Mark Mosley. “When they go back after we hire them, they get 4 | October 2022

to see how other companies do things and bring some of those ideas back with them.”

Each year, Northwest Lineman College trains more than 8,000 lineworkers at its four campuses across the country. The Florida campus in Edgewater features a 16-acre field training area for trainees to work hands-on, an indoor smart grid and a transformer lab for working with the latest technology. It’s all supported by state-of-the-art classrooms.

But more than those amenities, what makes Northwest Lineman College the right partner for SVEC is its willingness to build a program around the cooperative’s needs, Mosley says.

“They teach students their curriculum, but not ways of working that are

contrary to our own,” he says. “We follow Rural Utility Service specifications, and they adapted their program to teach that. So, our trainees aren’t being taught NLC’s way only to come back and do things our way.”

BACK TO SCHOOL

In the last year, SVEC started offering scholarships to the college for prospective lineworkers. Other than the cost of travel to and from campus, the scholarships cover all expenses. The program opens doors for people in the local community while also ensuring that any new additions to SVEC’s crews are ready to go on day one.

“Not every student who graduates from high school is going to go to college. Some can’t afford it and some just don’t want to go,” says Suwannee Valley Currents

Mosley. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t excel at a trade. Linework is a high-paying trade that requires a lot of training.”

Scholarship recipients aren’t SVEC employees immediately, though. First, they must complete NLC’s 15-week program. Afterward, they are guaranteed an offer for a full-time apprentice lineworker position at the cooperative.

With a new class of three scholarship recipients set to begin their training in January 2023, SVEC is on track to have gained more than 20 lineworkers through the apprentice program since it first launched in 2014.

“We feel like we get a more well-rounded employee when we do it this way,” says Mosley.

“In the past, some employees have decided they can’t hack it after six to eight months because it is hard work. But the 15 weeks allows us, and them, to determine if this is what they want. And if it’s not, we won’t have invested as much in them as we would if they had worked here a year.”

MORE TO LEARN

Even after new apprentice lineworkers get their feet under them, there is still a long way to go. Earlier this year, SVEC promoted its most recent graduates of the apprentice program: Adam Ford, Clay Stratton and James Williams.

In order to earn journeyman status, they had to return to NLC for two weeks annually over three years. In total, they completed a minimum of 576 hours of lectures, lab work and field instruction, in addition to 8,000 hours of on-thejob training. But Mosley is confident that the new scholarship program is preparing apprentice lineworkers well.

“When they finish the 15-week program, they’re ready the first day they leave the college and come here,” he says. “They even have their commercial driver’s license, so they’ve got enough training to get in our derrick trucks and drive to a job site pulling a trailer.”

Overall, the program has been a win-win, giving motivated workers in the community an opportunity to kickstart a good career while ensuring the cooperative has access to a steady stream of well-trained employees.

“With the first three young men that finished the program, we’re seeing that they’re further along than they would be under our old program where we’d hire people and immediately start them as an apprentice,” says Mosley. “It took six months to get those new employees to where these guys are in 15 weeks. So, they’re way ahead in terms of what they can do for our members.”  Suwannee Valley Currents

The transformer lab at Northwest Lineman College gives students up-close experience with electrical equipment.

Northwest Lineman College students work in the transformer lab.

October 2022 | 5

Sweet and spicy Asian pork-stuffed squash Ingredients 4

Shokichi Shiro or green squash (or other small squash such as acorn or spaghetti squash) 1 tablespoon peanut oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 shallot, thinly sliced (about 2 tablespoons) 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 2 2 1½ ½ ½ 2-3

pound ground pork tablespoons hoisin sauce tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce teaspoons chili garlic sauce teaspoon sesame oil, divided cup shredded red cabbage green onions, sliced

Directions Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut each squash in half horizontally and scoop out the seeds. Lay the squash halves cut-side down in a roasting pan or other baking dish. Add about 1 inch of water. Place the pan in the preheated oven and roast for 45-60 minutes, or until tender when poked with a fork.

While the squash is roasting, heat the oil in a large, nonstick skillet over moderate heat. Add the garlic, shallots and ginger. Saute until fragrant and beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add pork and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula as you go. Add hoisin, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce and cook the meat through. Remove from heat.

To serve, place each squash on a plate, cut-side up. Drizzle each with 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil. Place 1/4 of the pork mixture inside each squash. Sprinkle the cabbage and green onions over the top to garnish. Makes 4 servings.

bright ideas When you save energy, you save money.

Check back here each month for new ways to make your home or business more energy efficient.

6 | October 2022

Weatherizing your home can save you money while also making it a more comfortable place to live during the hottest and coldest months. Start by performing a home energy audit to better understand your energy use. You can find a link to an audit at svec-coop.com on the “Save Energy at Home” page.

Use the results to build an efficiency plan specialized for your home. This might include improvements to air sealing, insulation, moisture control and ventilation.

To learn more about how to save energy, click on the “Energy Efficiency” tab on the SVEC website, svec-coop.com. facebook.com/sveccoop @SVEC_COOP_FL @sveccoop

Suwannee Valley Currents

Photo courtesy of Visit Florida

Tampa’s Ybor City: Beer, Cigars & History

Centro Ybor features shopping, dining and entertainment, including Tampa Bay Brewing Company and Improv Comedy Theater.

By Tom Scherberger, Visit Florida

There are two sides to Tampa’s Ybor City, as opposite as night and day.

After dark, it’s home to a boisterous restaurant and nightclub scene, with music pulsing from storefront bars and restaurants and crowds building past midnight.

By day the pace slows. Daytime visitors glimpse the past — the culture, customs, architecture and languages of Spanish, Cuban, Italian and Eastern European immigrants who helped turn Tampa into the Cigar City a century ago.

“The truth is there’s a number of different Ybors,’’ says Joe Howden, an artist and Ybor City activist who co-owns the Official Ghost Tour Ybor City.

There’s the history side, the arts/ design/creative side, the growing office and business presence and the nighttime entertainment carnival.

“This is also somebody’s neighborhood — mine,” says Howden, pointing to recent population growth after decades of decline.

How to pair all these Ybors with a single craft beer? Old Elephant Foot fits the bill. Tampa Bay Brewing Suwannee Valley Currents

Company’s American IPA evokes various aspects of the neighborhood it has called home since 1995. The bar has distinct daytime and nighttime crowds, its craft beers reflect the creative side of the neighborhood, and its central location offers a good place to begin or end a history-minded walking tour of Ybor City. The menu features dishes incorporating TBBC beer (featured on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”).

A short walk to the east from the brewery is the Ybor City State Museum, a good starting point to get an overview of the district. A gift shop is next door, along with three beautifully restored shotgun houses for cigar workers.

Across the street is Centennial Park, site of a weekly outdoor market.

A few blocks to the west of the brewery are some of the most significant sites in the historic district: The Cuban Club, El Pasaje and The Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn, formerly the Gonzalez Clinic, where generations of Ybor City residents were born.

The massive brick Ybor Factory Building was the neighborhood’s first

cigar factory. The building is now owned by the Church of Scientology.

Across the street is tiny Jose Marti Park, where Cuban freedom fighter Jose Marti often stayed in a boarding house long since demolished. The park is owned by the government of Cuba, and is billed as the only slice of free Cuba in the world.

Of course, there’s history around every corner, a story to every building and state historical markers everywhere. There’s even some Tampa beer history — the Florida Brewing Company building founded in Ybor City in 1897, the tallest building in Ybor City, is now a law office.

Beer remains part of Ybor City’s present. Located just east of the historic district, Coppertail Brewing opened in 2014 at 2601 E. 2nd Ave. with a small tasting room and big ambitions. Also opening in 2014 in the original site of the Tampa Bay Brewing Company is Cigar City Cider and Mead, an offshoot of the world-renowned Cigar City Brewing. 

October 2022 | 7

Local families win in second annual

FOOD FIGHT

SVEC proudly organized the second annual Suwannee Valley Food Fight to End Hunger. Cheek & Scott Pharmacy, First Federal Bank, The Florida Peanut Federation, SVEC and Walt’s Live Oak Ford participated in the friendly competition in August to collect the most money and non-perishable food items for the Florida Gateway Food Bank.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in seven Suwannee Valley residents is food insecure, meaning they lack access to enough food for an active, healthy life for everyone in their household.

The event raised $1,325 and collected 1,549 pounds of food. The money alone can be leveraged by the food bank to provide nearly 16,000 nutritious meals. 

Cheek & Scott Pharmacy made a $500 donation to the Food Fight to End Hunger.

Walt’s Live Oak Ford contributed to the more than 1,500 pounds of food collected for hungry families.

Florida Gateway Food Bank accepts donations from the second annual Food Fight.

Operation Round Up Gives Back SVEC consumer-members continued to make a difference for local students in recent months, contributing more than $26,000 in the third quarter (July-September) to Operation Round Up. While each participating member makes an average monthly donation of just 50 cents per month, that small change has added up to nearly $80,000 for schools so far this year.

YEAR TO DATE Funds collected: $79,147 Grants approved: 154 Total value of grants: $81,477

8 | October 2022

LIFE OF PROGRAM Funds collected: $394,661 Grants approved: 768 Total value of grants: $394,583

Suwannee Valley Currents