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April 10, 2008 | AECI honors four New Madrid Power Plant employees with Excel awardsContact : Nancy Southworth Photographs of award recipients available electronically. Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) presented four employees at its New Madrid Power Plant with Excel awards during its 15th annual recognition awards ceremony April 10 at the plant. Receiving awards were Marchelle Robey, Cynthia Stone, Scott Harvey and Pearl Wheeler. Excel award recipients are nominated by their peers for excelling in their work with the cooperative. Awards are given based on achievements in 2007, with the exception of the Distinguished Service Award that recognizes sustained excellence and service to AECI. Robey recognized for professional skills Marchelle Robey, human resources administrator at the power plant, is the recipient of the Excel Award for Employee of the Year in a Secretarial or Clerical Field. She was recognized for taking a special assignment last summer to fill in for another employee in AECI’s headquarters in Springfield. Robey helped employees, retirees and dependents with benefit issues; provided a medical plan review team with data; and prepared materials for employee meetings, among other responsibilities. In 2007, Robey also participated on a cooperativewide benefits evaluation team and coordinated the plant’s annual health care, which promotes healthy living practices. A nominator praised Robey for her perfectionism. “She likes to make sure things are done right and done right the first time,” said the nominator. Robey began her career at New Madrid in 1981 in the administrative services department. She became the HR administrator in 2006 and is responsible for recruitment, selection, hiring, grievances, discipline and the Family and Medical Leave Act administration. Harvey recognized as part of a team constructing environmental controls project Scott Harvey, assistant plant manager, was recognized as a member of the Excel Innovative Action Team. The team award recognizes a group of staff that demonstrates a sense of urgency, the ability to mobilize quickly, willingness to learn new skills and processes and the ability to make decisions quickly and respond to its constituency. This year’s award recognizes successful coordination of an ongoing $385 million project at AECI’s Thomas Hill Energy Center near Moberly to construct additional environmental controls on the plant’s three generating units. When operating in 2009, the controls will reduce the cooperative’s systemwide nitrogen oxides emissions rate by 90 percent. Planning began in early 2005 before the Environmental Protection Agency announced the deadline for complying with new environmental controls. Operating on a tight schedule, the team successfully procured materials, equipment and skilled labor in a seller’s market. Construction continues through 2008. At its peak last fall, about 1,200 skilled laborers were on the site. The team was praised for demonstrating a sense of urgency, listening carefully, identifying key obstacles and promptly finding solutions. Harvey was assigned to the project as early as 2005 and in the first two years was the person on the ground, working daily with the Burns & McDonnell construction management group. He kept plant management and staff informed of developments and sought important input from plant staff on design and control features. His team responsibilities ended last fall when Harvey transferred to New Madrid and was promoted to assistant plant manager. Stone named Supervisor of the Year Cynthia Stone received the Excel Award for Supervisor of the Year. As an assistant shift supervisor, she works a 12-hour shift and supervises 11 people. Previously, as many as 55 people were under her direction, though not all on a given day. Stone is responsible for tagging equipment so other employees know it is safe to work on, for making sure staff receive proper training and for meeting preventive maintenance deadlines. Nominators praised Stone for her knowledge of operations, the respect she commands as a supervisor and her ability to keep her crew motivated and informed. “She’s well-respected,” said a nominator. “The decisions she makes are based on experience and knowledge, and when she’s making a decision, she goes through what she’s learned and then sticks with the decision.” Stone joined New Madrid in 1991 and progressed through the ranks to assistant control room operator. Four years ago Stone became the first person in the plant to move directly from that position to assistant shift supervisor. “Her promotion was a testament of what hard work and dedication can do. Cindy has continued to improve her job skills and works diligently to ensure the units and the operators are working safely and efficiently,” said a nominator. Wheeler helps ensure accurate and timely parts inventory Pearl Wheeler is the recipient of AECI’s Excel Award for Employee of the Year in a Vocational Field. She was recognized for her innovation and excellence in her job in the warehouse at New Madrid Power Plant. Wheeler joined AECI 26 years ago as a general utility first period but quickly moved into the plant’s warehouse department. She receives freight and handles outbound shipments, using a computerized system to tag and find more than 14,000 line items (many with multiple pieces) in nine warehouses. Wheeler has also worked to improve tracking in the warehouse. Said one nominator, “Over the years she has been instrumental in developing methods and processes to complete her daily tasks that have favorably altered the way AECI completes its business. Her innovative ideas have become a standard means to perform daily tasks, some of which have been adopted into the latest computerized maintenance management system.” Wheeler is a past Safety Person of the Month and Safety Person of the Year and part of a team that received an Excel award in 1996. As a member of New Madrid’s recreation committee for many years, she pioneered the plant’s children’s Christmas party and has been active in the plant’s Relay for Life team.
Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. is owned by and provides wholesale power to six regional and 51 local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve more than 850,000 customers. AECI’s mission is to provide an economical and reliable power supply and support services to its members. AECI is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V
### Released: 10 April 2008 |
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