WATT’S UP SUWANNEE VALLEY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EMPLOYEE AND RETIREE NEWSLETTER | SPRING 2019
from the ceo Thank you for your contributions
SMORE
Safety Member Experience Outreach to Community Reliability Economic Viability
BONUS POINTS AVAILABLE: 10 | VALUE PER POINT: $64 | POINTS ACHIEVED: 8.32
For a while now, we’ve been placing special emphasis on our five core values, represented by the acronym SMORE — Safety, Member Experience, Outreach to Community, Reliability and Economic Viability. This year, the board of trustees has demonstrated its commitment to those values by offering an additional 1% of the cooperative’s pay budget as an incentive for achieving target metrics associated with the values. I’m pleased to say that as we approach the official start of summer, June 21, we are on track to achieve the goals established for 15 of the 17 metrics. Of course, there’s a lot of 2019 yet to go, and to earn the maximum $640 per-person bonus at the end of the year, we need to maintain our current excellent results while increasing participation in our United Way payroll deduction program and controlling expenses to bring controllable cost per meter down to within budget. Please let De Smith know if you would like to begin contributing to United Way. You can See CEO, Page 4
SAFETY
• DART – Represents accidents where someone is injured • Error Ratio – Measure of liability claims where SVEC is at fault • Vehicle Incident Rate – Vehicle incidents relative to miles driven
CONGRATULATIONS FOR 397 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITHOUT A LOST-TIME INJURY Commitment to Zero Contacts A recent study completed by NRECA and Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange (Federated) reveals that while electric cooperative safety programs overall have greatly reduced days lost to workplace injuries, the record of serious injuries while on the job has not improved. Most of these serious accidents involve human contact with
an energized power line or equipment. The Serious Injury and Fatalities study analyzed the workmen’s compensation records covering about 90% of electric cooperative employees from 2006 to 2016. While overall recordable injuries were down by approximately 50%, the number of serious incidents, defined as trauma leading to permanent life-altering effects and incurring medical expenses in excess of $100,000, did not decline. Of the 233 serious injuries and fatalities cases reported in the study, the leading cause was employee contact with enerContinued on next page
respond and how these small moments are transformed when you put your positive intentions into practice. When you intentionally attempt to cultivate good connections, you always make a long-lasting, positive impression. By choosing to cultivate enduring connections, every moment becomes an opportunity to make others feel valued and to build or strengthen your relationships with them. Your actions will reflect this intention and gain people’s respect, admiration, trust and confidence. An enduring connection is the magic that results from the investment of your personal best to create something valued by another. With your intent to interact with others in positive ways, you enter each moment focused on delivering something of great value to share with them. When this becomes your mantra, you will most certainly make the customer experience memorable and magical!
gized power lines. Further analysis revealed that most electrical contacts occurred during small restoration efforts with downed power lines and were deemed to be “completely preventable.” In response, NRECA, working with Federated, launched the nationwide Commitment to Zero Contacts initiative in April 2018. The initiative provides cooperative CEOs, senior leaders and field personnel with ideas and resources they need to help eliminate serious injuries and fatalities due to electrical contact. Since last April, SVEC and over 540 other co-ops have joined the Commitment to Zero Contacts initiative. For more information about the initiative, please contact Mark Mosley.
MEMBER EXPERIENCE
OUTREACH TO COMMUNITY Average ratings on member service surveys. Scale: 1 (lowest) – 5 (highest)
Member Surveys The Member Service Department regularly conducts sample surveys to better gauge members’ experiences. These surveys consist of a variety of questions centered around three aspects of the member experience: member confidence, convenience and being member oriented. Members who have called into the cooperative within the last two weeks may be randomly selected and asked to complete the survey via phone. A survey option is also available at the bottom of all emailed bill notifications.
• ACRE – % of employees who are ACRE contributors • Community Participation Points – Hours spent in SVEC-sanctioned group volunteer projects • United Way – % of employees who contribute to United Way through payroll deductions
Making Positive Impressions Is Magical by John Formica Whenever you interact with a customer, client, employee or team member, you should always ask yourself, “What can I do to make this person be glad we met?” This will most certainly help you build rapport and better relationships with your customers and others. “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
Interacting with purposeful intent not only benefits your customers and business relationships, it also paves the way for realizing your ambitions. When you make an effort to connect with others, it becomes empowering. It increases your confidence, wins support of team members, influences others, cements satisfaction in your relationships and accelerates your success. To develop deeper connections try some of the following: Be interested, not just interesting. Show empathy. Listen attentively. Lift someone’s spirit. Provide support. Give genuine compliments.
Live Oak Quilt Trail SVEC is now part of the Live Oak Quilt Trail. Created by Glinda Pennock of the Live Oak Artists Guild, SVEC’s quilt block features Willie Wiredhand and will be displayed on the front of the co-op’s Administration Building. The Live Oak Quilt Trail is a collection of quilt blocks featured throughout Suwannee County. It aims to invite visitors to explore the countryside and share the quilting tradition.
Watch how differently people, particularly your customers, 2
up participating members’ bills to the next dollar. Since the progam started, 65 grants have been awarded amounting to over $25,000. These grants have been used by teachers in local schools to buy books, art supplies, math learning aids, science lab equipment and other materials that directly benefit students.
Scholarships SVEC is pleased to have awarded 10 scholarships of $1,000 to exemplary high school seniors throughout the co-op’s service territory. Branford, Hamilton, Lafayette and Suwannee County high schools had two scholarship winners each. One Columbia High School student and one home-schooled student also received a scholarship. Scholarship recipients were selected by a committee of SVEC employees who reviewed every applicant’s academic record, list of extracurricular activities, written essay and letters of recommendation.
Charity Cornhole Tournament In March, SVEC hosted the second annual Suwannee Valley Cornhole Tournament. A big thanks goes to every employee who volunteered a few hours of their Saturday to help. They earned 54 community participation SMORE points. Thirty teams participated in the tournament, and $3,416 was raised for the United Way of Suwannee County. This brings the total raised so far this year to $5,419.
RELIABILITY
• SAIFI – How many times the average consumer experiences a power interruption of more than five minutes • SAIDI – The amount of time that the average consumer is without power • Reliability Plan Points – Measure of how well we’re meeting various goals of the Reliability Plan
Automated Distribution SVEC continues to install automated switches throughout our system. These switches allow us to isolate outages and to restore power to some members within minutes. There are about 60 of these switches on our system, with another 20 scheduled for installation by the end of the year. Operation Round Up Operation Round Up® began in January. The program provides funding for in-classroom supplies and equipment by rounding 3
News from our EAP
ECONOMIC VIABILITY
Take Charge of Your Time!
• FMP Points – Measure of how well we’re meeting various goals of the Financial Management Plan • OT Hours – Overtime hours as a percent of total hours worked • Controllable Cost – All expenses ($) except for purchase power, depreciation and interest expenses
Capital Credits In light of SVEC’s continued financial strength, our board of trustees elected to retire (return) about $900,000 in capital credits to members last month, bringing the total amount of capital Watch video credits retired over the life of the cooperative to approximately $14.6 million. Capital credits were returned to anyone who was a member of SVEC at any time from 1987 through 2012. Members with retirement amounts of less than $5 received a credit on their May bill. Those with amounts of $5 or more received a check.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR 401(K) By Richard Schooley Should I be concerned about current events? It’s natural to wonder how your investments will perform when you watch the news and hear about China, Iran or political elections. It can be enough to make you question your investment allocation. It’s difficult to predict what the markets will do, especially in the short term. There have been events throughout history that could have impacted our investments. For example, if you look at past covers of Time magazine, you will see plenty of global events that scared us and our parents, but the economy recovered. The bottom line is that if your accounts are allocated properly according to your risk tolerance and age, your accounts should be able to withstand short-term market fluctuations, depending on your time horizon. Changing your account allocation to cash may sometimes seem like a good idea, but when do you get back in? Successfully timing the market can’t be done, so stay the course. Call Rich Schooley at 912-200-5232 if you have any questions or concerns.
ADMIN/CYBERSAFETY
• Phish Prone % – Percent of company-generated (knowbe4) phishing emails that have been clicked on • Weak Password – Number of passwords that do not comply with SVEC’s password policy
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Leadership coach Rory Vaden says that the way we approach time management is often wrong. When sorting our list, we should look to multiply our time by asking, “What’s the most important thing I can do today that would make tomorrow better?” As an example, he talks about setting up automatic bill pay. It may require an investment of time now but would then save time every month. Vaden offers four questions to ask yourself when prioritizing your task list: Can I eliminate this task? If I can’t eliminate this task, can I automate it? Can it be delegated, or can I teach someone else how to do this? Should I do this task now, or can I do it later? To learn more about how to take charge of your time, log in to our EAP’s website, www.theEAP.com, type “time management” in the search box near the top right-hand corner of the page, and explore the many excellent resources that are available.
CEO, continued from front
give just $1 per pay period, and United Way can direct your contributions to the non-profit of your choice. Thank you for all you are doing to live up to our five core values. You should all feel good about your roles in serving our members and working to make their cooperative the best it can be. Mike
Congratulations …
Farewell to …
Jessy Preston has completed his CompTIA A+ certification. CompTIA A+ is the industry standard and preferred qualifying credential for technical support and IT operational roles. Jessy also holds the CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ certification, which he completed at the end of 2018.
Family News …
Julia Clark, daughter of Jared Clark and his wife, Jenny, graduated from Suwannee High School on May 25. She lettered all four years in soccer, received her Certified Nursing Assistant license and completed half of the required credits toward her AA degree at North Florida Community College. She plans to attend Valdosta State University beginning in the fall of 2020, and then pursue a career in health care administration.
Paige Peacock’s son, Pearce, graduated from Suwannee High School and plans to become a lineman.
Member Service Representative Fran Kidd left in April and returned to her previous employer, the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office. Sidney Wynn, daughter of Doug Wynn and his wife, Kasey, graduated from Suwannee High School and will take art classes at North Florida Community College starting in the fall. After that, she plans to attend a university to prepare for a career in photography. The Wynns’ son Blake played left and center fields this year for the Suwannee Middle School Bullpups. The Bullpups won the Big Bend Championship in April. Also graduating from high school this spring were Matt Jones’ son Moleyk, Bruce Spradley’s son Zachary and Jerry Yunes’ daughter Olivia.
Sidney Poole, daughter of Raymond Poole and his wife, Jill, graduated from Suwannee High School and will study nursing at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville.
Sarah McWaters, daughter of Mike McWaters and his wife, Kristy, graduated from Suwannee High School and will attend the University of South Florida in the fall. The McWaters’ son, Seth, received his Bachelor of Science degree from Athens (Alabama) State University in April and now attends Northwest Lineman College in Edgewater, Florida.
Erin and Evan Skeen are the proud parents of their third daughter, Emma, who was born on April 12, weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measuring 19 inches.
Jessy Preston has rescued and adopted a beagle. The dog, now named Mallory, was underweight, infested with ticks and ringworms, and suffered from an infected hernia when she was found at Mallory Swamp. After a vet visit and much care, Mallory is regaining her health and enjoying her new life with Jessy and his German shepherd, Mallick.
From our retirees… Grandson’s Graduation From Wyatt and Wanda O’Neil Our grandson Jacob Ryan Letu graduated from Suwannee High School in May. We are super-proud of this young man. Jacob will attend the University of Miami to become a neurosurgeon. He hopes to one day help his Pop get some much-needed relief from the pain he suffers as a result of the injury that has kept him from working at his beloved job at SVEC! Wyatt loves each of his SVEC brothers and sisters and prays daily for each of you. Please keep our grandson in your prayers as he steps out into this next chapter of his life to pursue a career in medicine and help all who are in need.
Texas Road Trip From Tom Tuckey In early spring, three generations of Tuckeys — Tom, Debbie, Jeremy, Christy and Harper — took a road trip to visit Harper’s greatgrandparents. We all enjoyed family, food and visiting Arlington, San Antonio, Austin and Waco, Texas. We played tourists and had a wonderful time.
Submitted by Ashley Johnson
Tater Tot Casserole Ingredients
Instructions
8 eggs
1. HEAT oven to 375 F
½ tsp salt
2. Crack eggs and put them, all the spices and the milk
½ tsp pepper
in a mixing bowl
¼ tsp garlic powder ¼ cup minced onion or ¼ tsp onion powder
3. Brown sausage
2 cups milk
4. Scoop sausage into big mixing bowl with tater tots
1 lb. ground Jimmy Dean sausage
and cheese, hand toss to mix
32 oz. bag of tater tots 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
5. Put sausage mixture into a 9” x 11” casserole dish
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
6. Whisk egg mixture and pour over the top 7. Throw it in the oven, and it’s ready in 50 minutes
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