The Next Greatest Thing

Right-of-way crewman, Sonny Bowman, shares about his duties at the cooperative, his passion for hunting, and his favorite places to visit in the AVECC service territory

In this episode of The Next Greatest Thing, seasoned guest Shawn King returns to share crucial electrical safety tips for homeowners, farmers, and storm prep. From navigating aging wiring and DIY pitfalls to protecting your barn from curious critters and preparing for disasters, Shawn delivers practical advice that could save a life—or at least your coffee maker. Whether you're rewiring a room or riding out a storm, this episode is your electrifying reminder to stay safe and smart.

The Call and Annie's House of Hope are making a difference in the River Valley one child at a time. We talk with Leslie Maddox of The Call and Marilin Sandars, the executive director of Arkansas Children's Advocacy about their mission, it's needs, and how even one home can make a lifelong impact. 

Meet Penny Baker, a Member Services Team Lead at AVECC. Hear about Penny's 17 years with the co-op, her role in ensuring members receive excellent local service, and get to know her personal side, including her love for hiking and baking.   

Join "The Next Greatest Thing" as we chat with Jason Kelly, Arkansas Valley Electric's new Construction Superintendent, about his 30-year career in line work and his transition to office life. Jason shares insights on coordinating crews, managing communication, and the importance of patience during power outages. Beyond work, we explore his passion for hunting, especially turkey season, and the family tradition of linemen. Discover the dedication and lifestyle required to keep the lights on straight from the field to the office.

Wave Rural Connect has some exciting news! Listen to today's podcast to learn more about the fiber build out, new services and more! 

Guest host Emily Reames talks with Wave Rural Connect Fiber Technician John Mobley about his role in keeping the community connected. John shares insights into the challenges of troubleshooting outages and the importance of reliable internet service, highlighting WAVE's commitment to its members.

Today, we share the story of how Arkansas Valley Electric partnered with a North Carolina cooperative to provide aid after Hurricane Helene's devastating impact. Listen to firsthand accounts of the destruction and the powerful community response, showcasing the cooperative principle of 'concern for community' in action.

Brooke Becker celebrates five years at the cooperative, shares her new role responsibilities as one of the new billing specialists, stories of motherhood, and her favorite destination spot to go fishing. 

Barret Ewing  takes us behind thescenes of his position as the AVECC Director of Engineering and Operations. He shares his passion for the cooperative, and his vision for the future.

Cindy Bowman talks about her reaction to winning Employee of the Year, her passion for plants, love for cattle, and much more on today's episode of The Next Greatest Thing! 

Three AVECC Linemen share their experiences traveling to Florida and Georgia in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. They talk about the damage they worked through, living conditions, the challenges of leaving loved ones behind, and the cooperative spirit through it all. 

Staking Superintendent Kenneth Wilbanks shares his role in the staking department, his privilege of working with cooperative members, and his passion for sports. 

Serviceman Kendall Ward knew his career at AVECC would last a lifetime. Kendall shares his journey becoming a lineman, and much more in this month's Getting To Know episode! 

Want to keep your co-op account safe from hackers? Join us as we discuss essential cybersecurity tips with AVECC's IT experts. Learn how to create strong passwords, spot phishing scams, and discover what your co-op is doing to protect our employees and you! 

Stacie Howe was recently named the AVECC Human Resources Supervisor. We talk with Stacie about her new role, her history with the cooperative, and why fall is her favorite season of the year. 

Kendell Friemel and Ruthie Qualls share their experiences as Multimedia interns for the cooperative, their plans for their future, and their dream podcast guest to interview. 

This month, lineman, Matt Larimore celebrates 25 years serving his local community as a cooperative lineman. In today's episode, Matt shares how he started as a summer intern three days after graduating high school, and ultimately turned that experience into a lifelong career. Congrats, Matt! 

Drayke Boen, Katherine Wright, and Tegan Stimac join us to unveil their newfound insights into electric cooperatives, Tegan's sweet tea depravity, the girls' quest to collect trading pins from every state, and the life-changing moments that made their Youth Tour experience unforgettable. 

Sierra Cowens is now in a new role at the cooperative. Learn about her new position, how it affects cooperative members, and whether or not she prefers tacos or BBQ! 

Right-of-Way Superintendent Chris Tedford talks about how ROW benefits members, how ROW crews are trained and why linemen crews use chainsaws in bucket trucks. 

Pools,  barns and yards. What do they all have in common? They all use electricity! It's important to ensure that you are staying safe when working with electricity. AVECC System Coordinator (and past employee of the year) Shawn King sits down to discuss some electrical safety tips. 

Executive secretary, Larhonda Melton reminisces about her years in service to the cooperative, and shares some exciting news. 

AMR Coordinator, Kevin McGuire joins the podcast to talk about his time working in dispatch and with meters at the cooperative, AND his passion outside of work. And you'll never guess what it is! 

AVECC Engineering Manager and AVECC Systems Engineer, Samantha Renard discuss the recently awarded $18 million  smart grid grant and how it will ultimately change the rural River Valley communities for the better. 

Garon Taylor is a lineman for the Van Buren District who has a passion for all things outdoors. We talk with Garon about his position at the cooperative, his love of hunting, and how he felt about being named AVECC 2023 Pole Top Rescue Champion. 

Women's roles in cooperatives and society have drastically changed over the past 86 years. Those roles continue to evolve as moure women encourage others to pursue roles that inevitably shape the future of rural electric cooperatives and communities worldwide. 

Member Services Representative, Audreia Qualls loves the cooperative and everything it stands for. She grew up hearing about the co-op from her dad, who served as a linemen for 35 years. Now, she's serving her community. Audreia talks about her daily life as an MSR, her love of sports, books, and more. 

Brandon Fisher sits down with AVECC engineering manager Chris Howe, Dispatch Manager, John Yates, and former Operations Manager, Don Easom to discuss the behind-the-scenes of an outage. This episode was originally a two-part series published in 2021. 

Braxton Ketter has served AVECC as an Outside Plant Fiber Technician for 8 months. Braxton shares how he's felt about his position over the last year and shares his passion for hunting, including his trip to Colorado last fall to hunt elk in the Rocky Mountains. 

Fingers crossed, the weather stays mild this year. Regardless, it's always good to go into winter weather season prepared, just in case! 

Director of Human Resources, Ryan McClure is all about safety and making sure the culture of the cooperative is positive and family-oriented. Learn more about Ryan's role in HR, his background in the cooperative, his love of Coke-Cola, AND a once-in-a-lifetime story about catching a baseball at an Atlanta Braves game. 

 Barbara and Brandon talk with the 2023 Teacher Appreciation Award winners, Cheryl Ivey of Paris School District and Lana Muncy of Hector School District. 

If you've called into the AVECC office, there's a good chance you've talked to Member Services Representative Lead, Karen Stovall who was named the 2023 Employee of the Year by the AVECC employees. She sat down with us to talk about her time at AVECC and how she chose to celebrate the award, with her grandson. 

Did you know that there are only two Butterball whole turkey production plants in the United States and both are located in Arkansas? One in Huntsville and the other in our hometown of Ozark? We sit down with Andrew Lewka of Butterball's Ozark plant to talk about the impact Butterball is making in the River Valley and in the world. 

Sit down with us as we get to know Todd Barth. He shares about his childhood in Wisconsin, how he got into fiberoptics, his passion for photography, and why a lifesize poster of Bob Ross is in his office. 

Brandon Haberer grew up with AVECC in his blood. His family members helped build the cooperative from the ground up, and now Brandon carries on the family tradition as a member of the  AVECC Board of Directors. Brandon talks the importance of local people serving their local communities and even shares some stories of his days working at AVECC as an intern. 

The Waldron Gals, aka Crystal Ridenhour and Rachel Langley have worked in the lobby of the Waldron district office together for over 27 years. More like sisters than coworkers, Crystal and Rachel know their job and do it well. Most importantly, they have fun each and every day! 

 Matt Irving and David Copeland join today's episode to talk about the future of energy in Arkansas and across the nation with Today's Power Inc. We talk about how TPI is a vital tool for cooperatives and how they work with electric cooperative members on a daily  basis. EPISODE: "Are Vehicles Worth the Charge?" https://www.buzzsprout.com/1276013/11416448-are-electric-vehicles-worth-the-charge.mp3?download=true

Engineer Alex Dickerson describes what his daily life looks like at AVECC, his love of Mexican food, and his passion for hunting and fishing. 

Three River Valley high school juniors visited Washington D.C. for Youth Tour. Gabrielle, Garrett, and Robert share about their experience in the nation's capitol! 

From Youth Tour to full time employee, Emily Staton has been apart of AVECC for many years.  Learn more about Emily's path to the cooperative and how she has learned to love the cooperative way of life. 

WAVE Marketing Coordinator, James Ratteree joins the podcast to talk about WAVE's Managed and Ultimate Wi-Fi, the NEW app, and even shares an update on the fiber buildout project! 

Byron Owens is one of two fiber-optic technicians for Wave Rural Connect. He stopped by to talk about his role at WAVE, his passion for the project, and his favorite places to visit in his hometown of Waldron. 

Right-of-Way Superintendent Chris Tedford talks about how ROW benefits members, how ROW crews are trained and why linemen crews use chainsaws in bucket trucks. 

Larry Walker has worked Right-of-Way for decades. He shares stories of the past, how the cooperative has changed over the years, and talks about his Willie Wiredhand tattoo. 

Electricity safety could mean the difference between life and death. AVECC Master Electrician, Shawn King shares important electricity safety tips that could save your life, or someone you love for May's Electrical Safety Month. 

GIS Analyst/UAS Pilot  aka "the drone guy" Levi Young joins the podcast to talk about his journey from designing video games to flying drones for the cooperative, his favorite places to fly in AVECC's service territory, his love for hot wings and more. 

AVECC Serviceman, Zach Pettis views his job as a duty and a calling to serve the River Valley. Rain or shine, day or night, Zach, along with all of his fellow linemen, are willing to sacrifice their family life, to keep the lights on. This audio was originally created for  A Day in the the Life of an AVECC Serviceman video featured here: https://youtu.be/eDlJ4gh5JE4

Van Buren Serviceman Bronson Inge serves his local communities as a Serviceman lineman. He shares stories of outages, family, the brotherhood amongst linemen and his favorite place to eat in his part of the service territory. 

Energy Efficiency Manager for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, Mitch Ross, talks energy efficiency tips for homeowners, the CHESS program, his background learning to speak Spanish in Mexico, and more!