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The official voice of West Florida Electric Cooperative:

January 2023

WFEC Recognizes Employees

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Will Melton (center) was selected as WFEC's 2022 Employee of the Year. Wayne Williams, VP of Operations (left) and Derek Chadwell, Interim EVP & CEO (right) presented Melton with his award.

Each year, West Florida Electric Cooperative (WFEC) takes the opportunity to honor its employees with award presentations. The awards presented to employees include service anniversary awards, outstanding service awards and an employee of the year award. This year, Will Melton, Manager of Operations and  Construction for the Sneads District Office, was named Employee of the Year by his peers. Melton was chosen to receive this award by his co-workers because he best exemplifies the following traits: personality, punctuality, safety habits, team work, flexibility and outstanding performance on the job.

He has worked at WFEC for 34 years, beginning his career as a meter reader in 1988. In his role as Manager of Operations and Construction, Melton is responsible for the day-to-day activities at the Sneads District Office; delegating daily construction jobs, which jobs are built and when. He is also responsible for the welfare of the cooperative’s system to ensure that it supplies safe and reliable power for all members. He has been married to Julie Melton for 23 years, and they have two children, a daughter, Payton Kressman (21) and a son, Parker Melton (16). In his free time, he enjoys hunting and fishing. He also enjoys long range shooting and finds it interesting to see how accurate a person can make a rifle shoot and what it takes to do so.

“I’m honored and very appreciative for the award. I feel a little like a quarterback winning MVP. I try to do the best job I can for the co-op and its members. But the truth of it all is without the GREAT group of men and women supporting me, and having my back I couldn’t accomplish anything. I’m literally the person that passes the job to someone else and relies on them completing the work to the best of their abilities. So, in reality I am only as good as the people around me and they’ve done a fantastic job of making me look good. I want to thank them for making my job easy,” said Melton.

In addition to recognizing the Employee of the Year, three other employees were recognized with the Outstanding Service Award – one at each district office. They were: Terrell Culbreth, a staking technician at the Bonifay office; David Gilpin, a journeyman lineman at the Sneads office; and Shannon Holton, Supervisor of Human Resources at the Graceville office.

Our employees and their families live and work in the communities we serve. Join us in congratulating them on their achievements this year.

Shannon Holton (right) was presented with an Outstanding Service Award for the Graceville district by Derek Chadwell, Interim EVP & CEO (left).

 Terrell Culbreth (center) was presented with an Outstanding Service Award for the Bonifay district by Wayne Williams, VP of Operations (left) & Derek Chadwell, Interim EVP & CEO (right).

*Not pictured - David Gilpin