Austin Arttus is an Intern, Telecommunications. Austin attends Western Technical College, pursuing a degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering Technology. | Ryan Poelma is an Intern, Telecommunications. Ryan attends Western Technical College, pursuing a degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering Technology. | |
If you were unable to attend or would like to revisit the April 25 Riverside Chat presentation with divisional updates and Q&A, click here for the recorded session.
Riverside Chats with President & CEO Brent Ridge and the Executive Team are held regularly with Outlook invitations sent to all employees.
| Powered Printing is now on Facebook! Click here or search Powered Printing to check out their page, give them a like, leave a review and show your support for our talented Powered Printing team. Upcoming posts will feature graphic design tips, staff spotlights and highlight their products and services. |  | |
President and CEO Brent Ridge enjoys welcoming new employees and delivering "six-month" jackets throughout the organization. Brent is pictured with Lineworker - Maintenance Chad Matthees after delivering his jacket this week.
Brent will be presenting at Price Electric Cooperative's Board meeting on Friday, April 28, and at Jump River Electric Cooperative's annual meeting on Saturday, April 29. EVP and CFO Phil Moilien will also be attending both events.
Vice President, Generation Jeremy Browning will be presenting at Oakdale Electric Cooperative's annual meeting on April 29.
Dairyland is supporting economic development in Eau Claire Energy Cooperative's service area through participation in the Clay Breaker Trap Shoot Fundraiser on Thursday, April 27. Team members participating from Dairyland include: Amanda Hoefling (General Mgmt.), Andy Pierce (Project Engineering), Owen Yenter (Electrical Engineering), Mike McCullick (Project Engineering) and Steve Schauer (Real Estate & Right-of-Way). The event benefits the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corp.
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Dairyland's monthly Board of Directors meeting is being held today and Thursday in the Board Room.
Stay informed: Each month after the Board meeting, a summary of actions taken and educational topics addressed during the meeting is posted on the Breaker home page.
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Please find details and submit your electronic application for the following positions through Workday Career:
Treasury Manager (Internal/External from April 20 to May 4): Manages the short-term and long-term activities in treasury functions to meet the financial obligations of the business including cash flow, borrowings, debt and capital management and leasing. Maintains relationships and compliance with external lenders, including the Rural Utilities Service, energy market facilitators, commercial and investment banks and counterparties.
| For awareness: Thanks to Administrative Specialist II and Travel Coordinator Tami Klinski for sharing the following for anyone interested in applying for TSA Precheck at the La Crosse airport: | Taco salads are great if you don't want anyone noticing that you're eating 20 tacos. | |  |
MARCH PEOPLE POWERS AWARD WINNER | |
Dairyland Strategic Priority: People First
Photo: Winner Eric Hammes with Elizabeth Ressie (Human Resources) and Greg Flege (System Operations).
Congratulations to Manager, SOC Eric Hammes for earning the March People Powers award! Eric was nominated by Dennis Oldendorf (SOC) for acting with a Teamwork mindset.
In his nomination, Dennis called attention to Eric's leadership during the System
Operations Center (SOC) modernization project. "Eric's drive and attention to detail in getting the SOC modernization completed while continuing to do his daily work through the entire project" was remarkable. Dennis shared appreciation for Eric's diligence in keeping the dispatch team informed of developments as they progressed through the project. (For a recap of the project, click here.)
Director, System Operations Greg Flege said Eric "exemplified what it means to Lead by Example and demonstrate Teamwork through every aspect of the SOC Modernization project." From ensuring the Backup Control Center was well prepared for the necessary transitions to navigating challenges along the way, Greg called attention to Eric's ability to provide clear, calm and graceful leadership communication. "All of these things add up to building trust, collaboration and appreciation for one another," said Greg. "And they are noticed by a lot of folks. Thank you for what you do, this award is well deserved."
Also nominated for a People Powers award in the month of March was Eric Volden (Fleet
Operations). Eric was nominated by Kevin Holcomb (Building Services) in the Teamwork category. Thank you for your excellent contributions as part of the Dairyland team!
Nominations for this month are open. Click the WorkTango button on the Breaker!
Did you know? People Powers award winners earn the following for their above and beyond work performance: Breakfast with President and CEO Brent Ridge, 5,000 WorkTango points, People Power Award Certificate, apparel item, recipient pin and special recognition at Dairyland’s Annual Meeting.
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All Dairyland employees are encouraged to celebrate each other's accomplishments by submitting People Powers award nominations.
We are an organization filled with talented, hardworking peers who drive Dairyland's Mission forward everyday. Move our People First culture forward through positive recognition of employee performance via the award nominations, Performance Award requests, WorkTango posts and by leaving feedback on Workday.
"Make it a goal to lift each other up and provide timely recognition of above and beyond performance," said Director, Safety & Human Resources Elizabeth Ressie.
| PLANNED OUTAGE UPDATES: ROCKGEN BACK ONLINE, JPM MAJOR OUTAGE BEGINS | |
Dairyland Strategic Priorities: Safety Culture, Asset Reliability & Diversification
All three RockGen Energy Center units have returned to service as scheduled following planned maintenance. The outages were executed safely, injury free, error free, on schedule and on budget. The scope of work was focused on unit reliability in support of summertime operations.
The John P. Madgett Station (JPM) also began its spring outage with Safety as the #1 priority. Safety tailgates throughout the outage will focus on the job at hand, emphasizing 200% accountability (for individual and team). Crews are reminded that everyone has Stop Work Authority: stopping work when the task scope changes, new people are involved, new hazards are identified or if work instruction is inadequate or unclear. Planning and preparation with direct oversight of work is going to ensure quality work is performed resulting in predictable and reliable return to service.
Click here to read our earlier press release about the benefit of JPM’s planned maintenance outage to reliability and the local economy.
Operational Excellence includes regularly scheduled maintenance outages which are essential for the safe, reliable operation of Dairyland’s power plant assets. Power plant maintenance is planned during the spring and fall when energy loads are typically lower due to moderate seasonal temperatures resulting in less heating and air conditioning.
Local impact: Dairyland collaborated with local and regional business partners to supplement its highly skilled and dedicated staff with additional personnel to achieve goals safely and efficiently. Local restaurants (North End, Pier 4 Cafe, Silvermoon, Alma Hotel) will supply onsite meal delivery and the Alma Booster Club, Alma 4-H and Cochrane-Fountain City FFA will hold concession stands at the Alma Site during the project for educational fundraisers. Of special note, Leon Sipla (JPM Operations) will be providing onsite meals for two days as part of his food truck business!
| CONCERN FOR COMMUNITY: NATE MELBY & NEAL MCGOUGH FIGHT FLOODING | |
Nate Melby interviewed for WKBT News8 feature (spot Neal McGough, too!)
Many Dairylanders fulfill community-supporting roles outside of the office as coaches, charitable Board members and volunteers, EMTs, firefighters and more. Two of our coworkers, VP and CIO Nate Melby and Technical Support Specialist Neal McGough, have been providing aid to the Town of Campbell to alleviate severe flooding that has affected the community.
Nate serves as Fire Chief for the Town of Campbell, located on French Island. Neal serves as Captain of the Town of Campbell Fire Department. Click here for WKBT-TV8's coverage of their community efforts, which includes an interview with Nate.
As Fire Chief, Nate worked with Wisconsin Emergency Management and La Crosse County to request use of a sandbagging machine which can speed up efforts and help reduce the manual and physical effort. “The sandbagging machine will help ensure more people have access to the resources they need to keep their homes, businesses and families safe from flood damage.”
Nate emphasized how safety is of utmost importance - at work and at home. “I’d like to emphasize the importance of 200% accountability and the utilization of our Human Performance tools when preparing for and during floods,” said Nate. “My home was destroyed in the 2001 floods, so as we prepare for this, it’s even more important to me that we do everything we can to help and work safely while we do it."
| CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: DAIRYLAND'S ANNUAL MEETING IS JUNE 7 | |
Seeking Staff Volunteers - Dairyland’s 2023 Annual Meeting is June 7
Dairyland's largest event is our Annual Meeting which hosts hundreds of electric cooperative leaders and guests each year at the La Crosse Center. This year’s event is Wednesday, June 7, and it is only successful with the help of Dairyland staff! Of special note, Dairyland's keynote speaker this year is Miss America (formerly Miss Wisconsin) Grace Stanke.
Volunteer shifts vary in schedule and begin as early as 7:30 a.m., ending no later than 3 p.m. Please complete this short survey by May 12 if you are interested in volunteering this year. Contact Abby Ocello (Communications & Member Services) with any questions.
It is recommended you talk with your leader before signing up to volunteer as we still need to be available for our members and co-workers during the event. Shifts will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis. All volunteers will receive a branded "staff shirt" to wear at the annual meeting.
| FINAL WEEK OF RIM MONTH: FOCUS ON EMAIL SPRING CLEANING | |
Supervisor, Records & Information Management Beth Thomes thanks everyone who attended the Records & Information Management (RIM) Open House, in person or virtually.
"The event had 56 attendees from 29 different departments stop by to share their feedback, meet the RIM team, tour the vault, coordinate data transfers, ask questions and enjoy refreshments from our talented neighbors in the Riverside Café," said Beth. The RIM team is compiling responses to questions asked throughout the event to make available for employees and reviewing the feedback provided throughout the day.
Congratulations to the following prize winners!
- Fireproof and Waterproof safe – Courtney Cuta
- Label Maker – Patty Fetting
- Identity Theft Protection Roller Stamp – Laurie Parsons
- Productivity Lights – Ken Schimgen , Mony Mohr, Mike Garson, Asia Parkhurst, Kathy Baker
- Boogie Board – Kim Mhyre
- Organizing File Box with Folders – Laura Bringe
- Rocketbook and Pens – Peggy Kimani and Karolanne Foley
Last chance for BINGO: There is still time to work through a BINGO card and be entered into a drawing for more prizes. Turn in your marked card (hard copy or via MS Forms) and receive one entry in the May 5 Prize Drawing for each BINGO you earned! Employees can refer back to last year's File Clean Out Days information - found here - for quick-win approaches to tidying up Outlook.
Finish strong: Email is the focus for the last week of RIM month. As EVP & CAO Amanda Hoefling mentioned in the recent Dairyland Directions meeting, based off of Culture Committee Focus Group feedback, RIM and IS are working collaboratively to develop a program utilizing features within Outlook and Microsoft 365 to help employees address the volume of data in their inboxes.
- Effective May 1, all employees will have mailbox quota increases from 10GB to 20GB to alleviate work interruptions that may come with current mailbox size restrictions
- Targeted workshops will be scheduled in May and June to begin business process analysis with pilot groups
- Beginning in June, a short monthly feature will be published via Workday to provide information on Outlook functions and practices for managing this data source
- All new employees will receive training as part of their extended onboarding experience by year-end
- Offboarding instructions will be provided to managers to deliver role clarity for review of this data in a timely manner to facilitate the account closure process.
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