Southern Electric Corporation has named Bill Irby, of Pelahatchie, Mississippi, as its Power Player for the month of April. A Power Player is someone with integrity and high moral standards, possessing strong leadership qualities, a track record of safe production, and dedication to our company and industry, who is hard-working and represents SEC well in everything that they do, allowing SEC to Power Forward.
Irby, a field safety representative in Louisiana, has worked in the powerline industry for 20 years, with all but about 3 years of that with SEC. “I started with SEC in 2005 as a groundman on an underground crew during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” says Irby. And he’s virtually spent his entire career here, working his way up to crew foreman before moving over to the safety division, serving overhead transmission and distribution. “Bill truly exemplifies safety servant leadership,” says Donovan Guilbeau, Vice President of Human and Organizational Performance for SEC. “His tireless efforts to effectively collaborate between SEC’s elite skilled craft labor, the management team and our valued customers is commendable and should be emulated by us all.”
Irby says the best part of his job is completing a project, especially during storm restoration. “When you’ve put in the work and finally get to flip that switch… the joy on people’s faces is the best,” says Irby. As to his least favorite part, “there’s really not a bad part of my job,” he says. “But the biggest sacrifice is time away from my family.” Irby says what has kept him at SEC so long is a sense of belonging. “It’s like a family here. You’re not just a number to them,” Irby says. “Being around for this long, I’ve seen a lot of changes… but all for the good.”
Irby and his wife Kristy have been married 14 years and have two sons, one of which also works at SEC, and a grandson. He says Kristy is the real power player, keeping everything running every day while he’s away. Irby enjoys spending his free time in the outdoors, preferably hunting or fishing.
