Former Tiger Matt Flynn touts importance of proper hydration Along these Interim Manager’s Report LINES By Ryan Vandersypen August 2018 ALONG THESE LINES is an official publication DEMCO Interim CEO and General Manager of Dixie Electric Membership Corp. It is written for and distributed to members of the cooperative nine times each year. Dixie Electric Membership Corp. is a non-profit rural electric cooperative providing Take control of your power use service to 100,000 consumer-owners in seven Louisiana parishes. The Cooperative headquarters is located at 16262 Wax Road, Greenwell Springs, by knowing how to read your bill LA. All comments, suggestions and requests for Avid LSU football fans remember is part of the training that all of our information concerning this publication should be addressed to ALONG THESE LINES, Dixie Electric Matt Flynn as the gritty quarterback who linemen receive. Our employees are Membership Corp., P.O. Box 15659, Baton Rouge, led the Tigers to the 2007 national title. taught how to take precautionary mea- LA 70895, (225) 261-1221. NFL fans remember Flynn as the sures to head off any potential health Green Bay Packers signal-caller who set problems that may arise on the job, to DEMCO a single-game franchise record in 2012 assess risks, to recognize the signs of BOARD OF DIRECTORS by throwing for 480 yards and six touch- heat stress and heat exhaustion, and to off the lights when you leave a room, ASCENSION downs in a 45-41 win over Detroit. respond in emergency situations. or make sure the dishwasher is filled to Clarence Brock What you may not know is that you And just as Flynn’s hunch suggested, capacity when you turn it on. EAST BATON ROUGE and Flynn have more in common than they also know that adequate hydration is A July bill, for instance, may indicate Steve Irving, Vice President you think: like you, he is also a member critical when the sun bears down and the that in comparing the last two 31-day Randy Lorio of DEMCO. temperatures begin to rise. service periods, you used more kilo- Jill McGraw So when the former Tiger standout Meanwhile, as our linemen do their watt hours. Of course, that means your EAST FELICIANA placed a call to our headquarters office best to assist Flynn with his project, this bill would be higher than the previous Glenn DeLee several months ago, we thought maybe is a perfect time to remind all of our month. The form also shows members’ Faye Morris LIVINGSTON he was contacting us because his power members that the searing summer heat average kilowatt hours per day and aver- Danny Berthelot was out or maybe he had a question will inevitably result in more power be- age cost per day. A chart also indicates Leslie Falks about his bill. ing used, resulting in higher bills once in graphic form the highest months of Dennis Lott, Sec.-Treasurer Well, it turned out that electricity the meters are read and the payment electricity use through the previous year. ST. HELENA wasn’t on his mind. Our linemen were. notice is sent out next month. In keeping with our legacy, our struc- Frank Johnson Flynn was calling to gauge our inter- We always encourage all of our ture and our mission here at DEMCO, Richard Sitman, President est in participating in a field evaluation members to take a moment to pay close our goal is not to turn a profit by selling TaNGIPAHOA of his new sports drink called MyHy. attention to their bills. We have done our electricity. Our goal is to provide power Eugene Traylor He knew how hard our linemen very best to make sure that your payment to your home or business at the lowest WEST FELICIANA work in the summer heat every day and notice arrives in your mailbox with the cost possible on a non-profit basis and Freddy Metz figured our service personnel would be information you need to manage your also help you find ways to lower your the perfect group to provide meaning- power consumption responsibly and consumption and lower your bill – not INTERIM CEO ful feedback on his line of re-hydration wisely. (Acct. No. 9126066-001) to encourage you to use more electricity & GENERAL MANAGER products (see story on page 4). If you look closely, you will find so that the company can reap a higher Ryan Vandersypen I’d say he came to the right place. much more than just a bottom-line profit and deliver dividends to faraway VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE It would be fortunate for our line- payment figure. For instance, when the corporate investors. Mike Johnson men if the weather cooperated each time bill arrives, you may first look at the I encourage all members to take con- VICE PRESIDENT OF they made a service call or performed a “amount due” figure – next you can look trol of your consumption and visit both HUMAN RESOURCES maintenance or construction task. But to see how the kilowatt-hours consumed www.demco.org and www.togetherwe- Esther Tapia much like Flynn during his playing days, the previous month compares to the same save.org where you will find many ways they know they have to be prepared to time frame for the previous year. to save on your bill. ALONG THESE LINES (USPS 004-089) is respond to the best of their ability when- This can tell you how you are doing Meanwhile, as we all struggle with published monthly except bi-monthly Jan/ ever, wherever and however duty calls. on your power use and may remind you the summer heat, take comfort in the fact Feb, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec, by the Assn. of Actually, preparing for the rigors of to try to be more conscious of, say, mak- that cooler weather – and football season Louisiana Electric Cooperatives Inc. (ALEC), 10725 Airline Highway, B.R., LA 70816-4299 outdoor work and inhospitable elements ing sure to check your thermostat, or turn – are just around the corner! MANAGER OF MEMBER AND PUBLIC RELATIONS David Latona ASSOCIATE EDITOR Billy Gibson Advertising is accepted and published in ALONG THESE LINES on the premise that the merchandise and services offered are accurately described and sold to customers at the advertised price. DEMCO and ALEC do not endorse any products or ser- vices advertised herein. Address inquiries to: ALEC, 10725 Airline Hwy., Baton Rouge, LA 70816. Phone (225) 293-3450, 1-800-355-3450. Annual subscription $1.70 Members; $5 Non-Members Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to: 10725 Airline High- way, Baton Rouge, LA 70816-4299. Periodicals Post- age paid at Baton Rouge, LA. ON THE COVER - Former LSU Tiger quarterback and national champion Matt Flynn is on a mission to stress the importance of proper hydration. DEMCO is field testing his product, MyHy, with its Central District crews. For more on this story, see page 4. Page 2 • ALONG THESE LINES • August 2018 DEMCO makes commitment to zero contacts DEMCO has pledged its long-term commit- ment to zero contacts. Employees at DEMCO’s Zachary Office, shown at right, recently participated in pole top rescue training and later held a cookout and gathering where they made a personal commit- ment to safety. According to DEMCO Safety Coordinator Jacob Overhultz, “This is a campaign we will adopt for years to come. Each summer at each of our district offices, we will have a training pro- gram, break bread together, and then re-commit ourselves by personally pledging to make safety our top priority so that we can all go home to our families at the end of the day.” At the recent annual meeting of the Associa- tion of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives (ALEC) in Baton Rouge, DEMCO received recognition for participating in the National Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program (RESAP) and for its outstanding safety regimen. Shown display- ing the RESAP flag are Overhultz, ALEC Safety Training Coordinator Aarron Graham, ALEC Loss Control Director Mike Bergeaux and DEMCO Safety Coordinator Rickey Cummings. Also pic- tured at far right are (front row) DEMCO Interim CEO and General Manager Ryan Vandersypen, Bergeaux, DEMCO Director Jill McGraw, DEMCO Vice President of Human Resources Esther Tapia and DEMCO Director Danny Berthelot; back row, DEMCO Director Dickie Sitman, Overhultz, Graham, DEMCO Director Leslie Falks, DEMCO Director Randy Lorio and Cummings. August 2018 • ALONG THESE LINES • Page 3 DEMCO employees field test new hydration product Former Tiger Matt Flynn sees comparison between athletes and line workers Matt Flynn isn’t starving for atten- tion. He’s had his fair share of fanfare after leading the LSU football team to a national title in 2007. And he’s still in the public eye as co-host of a local radio show with former teammate Jacob Hester. He’s not financially destitute, after earning his college degree and spending eight seasons as an NFL quarterback. He has a fantastic wife, two healthy children, a lovely home and lives a serene existence in the rolling Feliciana bluffs. So it’s easy to believe him when he asserts that his primary motivation for creating an electrolyte-replacement beverage called MyHy was not to make a mint but to help reduce the risk of ac- cidents among industrial workers such as plant employees and electric linemen. Clockwise from left: Former Tiger and NFL After many years of working out with quarterback Matt Flynn displays his MyHy coaches, strength trainers, doctors and sports drink; Josh Prestridge knocks back nutritionists – and after consuming many a cup of MyHy before heading out on a job; of the sports drinks on the market – Flynn, Mark Phillips and Jacob Overhultz Flynn realized that most of those irides- worked together to perform a field test of cent concoctions don’t have the optimum Flynn’s product; and Luke Butler and Ronnie blend of water, sodium and sugar.