Each year, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s RE magazine spotlights 20 bright, driven, community-minded cooperative employees from around the country.
One of this year’s RE magazine “Co-op Rising Stars” is Dixie Electric Network Administrator Heath Ishee of Laurel.
Ishee made the list of 20 from a pool of 170 nominated candidates this year.
Ishee started working at Dixie Electric at the beginning of the pandemic. Around that time, the co-op was conducting feasibility studies for a proposed subsidiary, DE Fastlink, to provide broadband internet service.
The co-op leaned heavily on Ishee’s background as a system engineer at a propane company, but he soon oversaw the deployment of DE Fastlink’s network — on top of his regular IT duties.
“Ishee’s “can-do attitude, dedication, knowledge and adaptability were invaluable,” says Communication Manager Amanda Mills. “We were moving at such a quick pace to keep up with federal requirements, and Heath became vital to our operations for both Dixie Electric and DE Fastlink.”
The co-op rolled out a successful pilot project to 100 members at the end of 2020 and signed up another 3,000 by the end of 2021. Today, DE Fastlink has about 14,000 subscribers.
