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May 9, 2008 | Rick Gunnels retires from AECI's New Madrid Power PlantContact : Nancy Southworth 417.885.9246 Photo available electronically. Contact ceoff@aeci.org. Ricky Gunnels, former mechanical maintenance planner at Associated Electric Cooperative’s (AECI) New Madrid Power Plant, has retired after nearly 30 years with the cooperative. Gunnels joined AECI in 1978 as a draftsman and four years later became a mechanical maintenance planner in a new department dedicated to preventive maintenance. He stayed with the department and, in addition to developing training and scheduling, helped with a series of computer installations and upgrades. The hardest part about leaving the New Madrid plant, he said, was leaving his “family” behind: “When you’ve worked there as long as I did, it’s more of a family than just a job to go to. There’s a pretty good family at New Madrid. … If you spend enough time there, it will feel like home.” Outside the plant, Gunnels and his wife, Sonya, have traveled the world and the United States as volunteers on mission trips. For example, they’ve helped with eye clinics in the Philippines and Honduras and served in Nigeria and North Carolina. He hopes to travel soon to Nigeria or Egypt on other mission trips. 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, including the new “Take Control & Save” energy efficiency program, www.TakeControlAndSave.coop. AECI is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V Released: 9 May 2008 |
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