The Power of Connections

P ERSPECTIVES FROM THE C URRENT L ONGEST -S ERVING E MPLOYEE

On June 12, 1978, Larry Harrell started his first day of work as a fourth-year apprentice lineman. At the time, Jimmy Carter was president, a gallon of gas cost about sixty cents, and the co-op served a few thousand members. “We only had two line crews back then,” says Harrell, a US Army veteran who worked as a contractor in Tulsa before joining CREC. Harrell has experienced numerous changes during his forty three-year tenure. “Years ago, linemen had to do a little bit of everything,” he recalls. “We used to have to go out and collect delinquent accounts. And two or three of us would be pulled in to help key in bills every month.” Harrell also spent his fair share of time braving the elements. “We’ve had plenty of windstorms, tornadoes, hail, and ice storms over the years,” he says. “In 1982, we had the third-heaviest snowfall ever recorded in St. Louis. The National Guard was flying helicopters, and we used snowmobiles to get around because all the highways and roads were closed.”

Larry Harrell is currently CREC’s longest-employed team member.

and to standardize the color across the entire fleet as new vehicles were acquired. “I told her that we’ve got to make these vehicles pop,” he recalls. “At the time, we had three mechanics who did our in-house painting, so we worked with them to keep testing colors until we found the custom mix of reddish-orange that we liked.” A few years later, he decided to update the appearance of the small trucks with a fresh design and the use of vinyl wrap instead of paint and decals. Vinyl was a practical alternative to applying orange paint to new vehicles because it would be easier to remove when an aging vehicle was taken out of service and sold. Assisted by Clark, he worked with an employee committee to find a shade of vinyl to replicate CREC’s custom paint and to update vehicle graphics. “The color of our service vehicles is part of our identity,” Clark says. “That special shade of orange has a lot of personality. Our vehicles must be instantly recognizable and welcome in the community. That special orange is the color you want to see coming down the street in your neighborhood.”

50 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative