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January 2008

FKEC Marks 68 Years Serving Our Community

On January 22, 1940, a group of Keys residents incorporated their own power company. They wanted reliable, centralized electric service for their growing community, but the Middle and Upper Keys were too sparsely populated to be attractive to any existing power company.

So a handful of locals rolled up their sleeves and got to work forming and organizing a community-owned and operated electric cooperative with a loan from the newly formed Rural Electrification Administration.

Just 17 years later in 1957, FKEC's longest-standing employee, Willie West, joined the company on the Line Crew to help with the ongoing process of installing the system's first set of power poles. Willie still works in our Fleet Maintenance Department today.

Then, in 1959, a man named Irvin Paul joined the company to work as a Senior Operator Mechanic in the Marathon Generation Plant. Two years later, his son Carl Paul also joined the company just out of high school to work as a Groundman on the Marathon Line Crew. Carl was interested in line work and earned his Journeyman Lineman designation. He later became an invaluable member of FKEC's staff. His father Irvin retired from full-time employment in 1974 but continued to serve as a part-time employee until 1993.

Florida Keys Electric Cooperative was founded by this community and continues to be run by the people
who live in and love this community. Now Carl is retiring this month after 46 years, but the fabric of this company is woven with long-term, dedicated employees.

Moe Leslie marked 29 years in 2007, and Mark Weeks and Bill Lee have both served our community for 27 years. Craig Rabito and Mike Cochrane marked 26 years in 2007, and the list goes on to include more than a dozen more with over 20 years of service.

The people of this community wanted power for their homes and businesses, and in the process they created a powerful local company with the ability to not only deliver reliable electricity, but also to provide a great place for locals to work, earn skills and education, and make a good living in their own hometown.

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.