Everyone has to start somewhere, career-wise. Many times, that means internships for those who are trying to sort out possible paths. For decades, explorers who have come into an internship at an electric cooperative have found a “home away from home” — a family feeling with smaller staffs that allow for both learning opportunities and advancement. Electric co-ops are companies that care about their employees; they offer good pay, stellar benefits, and a friendly environment.
Maura Gallagher
Imagine being 13 years old and going home every day for the next six years — to jail.
Nelson Smith, chairman of the board of The Energy Cooperative in Newark, called the Licking County Jail home for nearly the entire span of his teenage years, but not because he had committed any crimes. Smith moved into the Licking County Jail when his mother was hired in the early 1960s to be the head cook and jail matron, the person in charge of the female prisoners.
Not-for-profit electric cooperatives have a responsibility not only to fulfill the needs of their consumer-members, but to help their neighbors in need. To that end, Operation Round Up was born.
Operation Round Up is a voluntary program in which more than 200 electric cooperatives across the country participate, including most Ohio electric cooperatives. The programs go by different names, but they all operate under the same premise: Small change makes a big impact in communities all across Ohio.
