A core value of cooperatives upheld by local people you know and trust.
YEC is proud to have local people looking out for you. We are residents like you, sharing your same values, schools, churches and aspirations of providing good lives for our families. Our dedication to making a difference goes beyond our job descriptions; we care about the heart of the matter–the great communities we share in York, Chester, Lancaster and Cherokee counties. Making your life better means we are making life better for our friends and family. Therefore, our commitment runs deep, our intentions are honest, and our promise is true.
They say there is strength in numbers, and we believe that’s true. We have many different departments at YEC that work together to provide you with excellent service. We would like to introduce several of our employees who work hard each day to serve you in different capacities. And guess what? They are co-op members, too. Keep an eye out for more locals serving you in future editions.
Showing our commitment to community
Let us introduce you to York Electric’s employees—and a few family members. Hear their thoughts on being a part of our community and serving you.
‘At YEC, we all work together’
Q: How long have you been members of YEC and how long have you been an employee?
Wes Dover: I’ve been an employee just a few years longer than I’ve been a member. I started at YEC in 2001 and have been a member since 2003.
Q: What is your favorite part about your job?
Wes: One benefit of my job is being able to meet with members and help determine how to get them power. By living and working in our community, I have the opportunity to continue that relationship afterwards.
Q: Speaking of providing for your family, does your job affect your family life?
Wes: Sometimes I’m not able to make school functions or family dinners, but it is for a good reason. Since I’m helping other people, my family appreciates what I do and understands my absence. Luckily, we don’t have many outages, so I can be there most of the time.
Q: Anna Kate, what do you think about your dad being away working?
Anna Kate: I wish he was there, but I understand that his job is important. He’s helping other families in our community when they need it most.
Wes: It’s a team effort–both at work and at home. Hayley and my kids support me so that I can do my job to the best of my ability. Whether I’m helping get the lights back on or planning for future growth–it’s all about taking care of our members. At YEC, we all work together to provide our members with great service and make a difference in our community.
‘Going above and beyond’ and ‘Taking care of members’
Q: What do you do here at YEC?
Jamie Duston: I am the front office coordinator at YEC, and my goal is to provide support and leadership to our front office staff including collections, cashiers, and our Fort Mill branch office. My ultimate goal is to take care of our member services team so that they are well-prepared to give excellent customer service every day. I also work directly with members and give every effort to go above and beyond to make their experience a pleasant and simple one.
Jennifer Brooks: My role as call center coordinator is to provide support and leadership for the ladies in the call center. I’m usually signed into the call loop taking calls and taking care of the members just like the others in the call center.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Jamie: I would say the most rewarding aspect is when I know I have really made an impact in someone’s day, when I know that what I did provided hope to what seemed to be a hopeless situation.
Jennifer: The most rewarding part of my job is being able to help our members. We receive all types of requests in the call center, so making sure our team has the knowledge to take care of each question is important. Whether we are looking at a member’s billing question, connecting new service, entering an order for a repair or reporting an outage, we have the opportunity to make a difference and show our members the value of their membership.
Q: You are both members of YEC. Do you feel like that impacts your decisions at work?
Jamie: I feel like being both a member and an employee help bring things full circle for me. I am proud of what I do because I know what kind of service York Electric provides both in the field and within the office.
Jennifer: In every decision I make, I think about what is best for our members. I always try and treat people the way I would want to be treated whether at work or in my personal life.
Q: How do your families feel about being members of the co-op and about your job here?
They ‘like the challenge’ of ‘working in a dynamic environment’
Q: You two have some of the most hazardous jobs at YEC. Why do you do what you do?
Jeremy Huffstetler: I like the challenge of my job and learning new things every day. I also get to apply what I know to help members. I help them troubleshoot any problems they are having and point them in the right direction to get them repaired. If I can fix it, I do, so that it saves the member time and money.
Zack Smith: I enjoy working in a dynamic environment. I’m also proud to be part of an organization that strives to serve the community in a positive way.
Q: You are also both members of the co-op. How does it feel to be an employee and a member?
Jeremy: As a co-op member, you know you are going to receive safe, reliable power. As an employee, we play an integral part in making that statement true. When my family and I cut the lights on, I know I played a part in providing that service. My family and I have lived on co-op lines for four years, and I have been a lineman here for almost 11 years.
Zack: I’ve technically been a member all of my life. I grew up on co-op lines, have been an official member for the last 13 years, and an employee for 12 years. It’s satisfying to provide the same level of service to my family that I provide to my friends, neighbors and the membership.
‘I’m making a difference’
Q: You’ve been an employee for a while. What has made the biggest impact on you?
Cathy Heffner: Being an employee of the co-op has allowed me to see our community in a different light. I’ve been blessed to meet so many wonderful people working in the field as a meter technician. Sometimes, you need to be a friend. Sometimes, you need to offer your help. Sometimes, the people you meet give you help you didn’t know you needed. My job allowed me to appreciate the power of human connection.
Q: What makes the co-op different?
Cathy: We truly care about our members. Being local and a member myself, I’m able to help my neighbors and my friends. As an employee, I’m making a difference where I live and in the lives of people I know. Helping others is a way of life that won’t stop after retirement.
Members ‘first and foremost’
Q: What role do you play in looking out for our members?
Karen Good: I look out for the members from an accounting perspective. I do my best every day to make sure the cooperative’s financials are recorded properly as all profits are returned to the member through capital credits.
Q: How long have you been at YEC?
Karen: I joined YEC in May 2017.
Q: You are a member, too. What does your YEC membership mean to you and your family?
Karen: There’s a different culture here that I greatly appreciate. We don’t cut corners. Employees take their tasks at hand seriously and everything is completed with the highest quality. Being an employee and seeing day to day business makes me even more appreciative as a member because I know YEC, as a whole, is looking out for the member first and foremost.
Q: What does community mean to you?
Karen: To me, community means people supporting one another. We all work as a team and support each other, but we also support our community through various programs and events like Operation Round Up and the Teddy Bear Trot. I’m happy to be a part of the co-op and our community.
All in the family
Q: Tell us a little about yourself.
Ben Hall: I am the warehouse coordinator for YEC and have worked here for seven years. For the first three years here at the co-op, I was a lineman. I’ve been a member for 31 years–nearly all my life–and now live in my family’s old farm house with my wife and three boys.
Q: What does membership mean to you?
Ben: Membership has a unique meaning for me. I grew up knowing a lot about the co-op because my grandmother, Jean Hall, was an employee here back when the YEC office was in downtown York. When she married my grandfather, John Hall, a state cooperative newsletter headlined their announcement as the “Co-op Wedding.” My grandmother, the co-op employee, married a member. The co-op was a lot smaller then, so being a member was exclusive. Even though we have grown a lot over the past 78 years, your co-op membership still means the same today–we are still owned by those we proudly serve and employ people from around here.
Q: What does being a co-op employee mean for your family?
Heather Hall: Although Ben is busy at work and sometimes has to leave us when outages occur, I’m grateful his job allows him to provide for our family. My husband is a talented guy–kind of a “jack of all trades,” so it makes me happy and proud to know that he can use his skills on the job, helping other people.
Ben: There’s something new every day in my job. I like being able to use my knowledge to help take care of our members and other employees.
