CEO Report

July 2008

Storm Hardened Tavernier Operations Center on Schedule

Construction of the new storm-hardened Tavernier Operations Center has made significant progress since its groundbreaking in December, and the contractor is currently on schedule to complete the building by early 2009.

To watch my guided video tour of the construction, click here.

On April 30, we achieved a major milestone when the first tilt walls were erected on site. General contractor Overholt Construction Corporation, Miami, framed and poured the exterior concrete walls on the ground at the jobsite. Once cured, these concrete panels were then lifted and "tilted" into position by a 200-ton crane and braced around the building's perimeter.

Tilt-up construction is faster and less expensive than traditional masonry and provides the strength and durability of poured concrete. The interior floors and roof are constructed next to complete the concrete shell, which should be finished by mid-July.

The Tavernier Operations Center will include a reinforced warehouse, fleet maintenance facility and administrative offices. It will replace old storm-vulnerable buildings and unite all of the Co-op’s Upper Keys operations on the same side of U.S. 1.

For current information, photos and videos of the building's progress, click here.

Scott Newberry joined FKEC in 1990 as Planning, Rate and Budget Analyst and was promoted in 1996 to Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, he oversaw all of the financial, accounting, billing and information system functions of the cooperative. He was promoted to CEO on January 1, 2006.

Scott is an active member of the Upper Keys community and is a past president, current director and president-elect of the Rotary Club of Key Largo, is a director for the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce and is co-founder and president of the Upper Keys Golf Association.

In 1994, Scott completed the three-year national electrical course for apprentice linemen to further his education in cooperative operations. He is a graduate of Leadership Monroe County Class XI and completed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Management Internship Program in 2005.

Scott graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in Agriculture Business and Economics in 1986. In 1988, he began his career in the electricity industry when he joined the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in Washington, D.C. With the REA, he worked first as a Commercial Loan Specialist and was later promoted to Power Requirements Officer before moving to the Florida Keys to join FKEC in 1990.