Chief Operating Officer Named At Blue Ridge Electric
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (July 15, 2005) – Taking outage calls at 10 years old and riding shotgun with his dad as he patrolled the cooperative’s power lines for problems might have been a sign for Lee Layton that he would one day follow in his father’s footsteps.
Throughout his youth, Layton, who joins Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation as chief operating officer, enjoyed helping his father, a lineman and later manager of Pioneer Electric Cooperative in Alabama. Due to the partnership that began at such a young age, Layton grew up on the cooperative philosophy of caring for the people you serve and bettering the communities they live in. “It was instilled in me at a very young age that we were doing something very good at the cooperative,” he explained.
By the time he was headed for college, Layton knew he wanted to become an engineer. But it wasn’t until after his internship at an investor-owned electric utility that he was positive his life’s calling was working for a cooperative.
“I made a conscious decision after college to work for a cooperative,” Layton said. “The member-owned concept is what appealed to me.”
When you work for a cooperative, you’re really working for your community,” Layton explained. “One of my mentors, Judge Tisinger, who was a founder of Carroll EMC and a legal counsel to NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association), said it best. He told me once that God owns this world and we pay him back by serving others. Working for a co-op is one way I can do that.”
“Lee has a deep passion for customer service and he will continue the Blue Ridge Electric tradition of providing our members with the highest reliability in electric service and personal touch customer care,” said Doug Johnson, chief executive officer.
Layton also hopes to continue his tradition of community involvement. “The cooperative philosophy all boils down to making the communities we serve a better place to live and work,” he explained. In Georgia Layton volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and was on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce, where he also served as chairman of infrastructure and transportation committees. He was appointed by county commissioners to the Carroll County comprehensive planning committee. Additionally, Layton served in local and state positions for the Carrollton Lions Club and was active as a deacon in his church. A licensed instrument-rated pilot, Layton also served 12 years on the West Georgia Regional Airport Authority.
His list of professional activities are numerous, ranging from helping organize and co-chair a cooperative purchasing group to teaching engineering and operations at NRECA’s Management Internship Program designed to prepare cooperative employees for leadership positions. He has also written numerous articles for electric trade publications and is currently developing a series of on-line training courses for a provider of continuing education courses to the electric industry.
“I am looking forward to working with Blue Ridge Electric, its staff and its members,” said Layton. “It is one of the best run co-ops in the country.”
Layton is especially looking forward to building on the excellent customer service record of Blue Ridge Electric. “Our organization is set up to link engineering operations to member relations and I think that is good for the member,” Layton said. “From the time a member signs up for new service and a meter is set, we have the mind set that the clock is ticking (to provide prompt, courteous service),” he added. “We have a high accountability to the member and that’s how it should be in a cooperative—that’s the cooperative difference.”
Layton and his wife, Becky, a former private school math teacher who most recently taught General Education Degree (GED) students, live in the Cedar Rock community of Caldwell County. Their daughter, Jennifer Peterson, is a graduate of Auburn University and is attending the Medical College of Georgia. She will practice in the field of oncology or neurology after her residency. Their son, James, also a pilot and a recent graduate of Auburn University, is following in the same cooperative utility footsteps as his father and grandfather as he began his new job this summer as system engineer at Central Georgia Electric Membership Corporation.
Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 68,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Alexander, Avery and Wilkes counties.
