President’s award given to three Marketing employees

At the General Office town hall meeting May 7, three Marketing employees were honored by CEO Ed Holland for their heroic actions and quick responses in times of crisis.

Training put into practice

At a lunch meeting in November with a representative from South Mississippi Electric Power Association, Jeff Beaty, commercial marketing specialist in Hattiesburg, had to unexpectedly put his safety training into practice.

During the meeting, the SMEPA representative stood up and motioned that he was choking. After confirming this, Beaty performed the Heimlich maneuver and was able to dislodge the food.

Paying attention pays off

When John Knight, senior sales and service technician, anchored his boat last August, he was ready to have some fun on the water.

But he heard a sound that made him stop what he was doing and take a walk around his boat.

And it’s a good thing he did because he found a girl on the boat next to his hanging upside down in the water. Her shorts were caught on the ladder and she was barely keeping her head above water.

While there were several other boats docked in the area, Knight was the only person to act on the girls’ cries for help.

Right place, right time

While driving through the DeSoto National Forest last July, Gary Williams, senior marketing analyst, noticed a cyclist had fallen off his bike and was lying on the side of the road.

Williams pulled over and approached the cyclist, who told him he’d been riding for about four hours and was dehydrated and cramping.

After giving the cyclist some water, Williams moved the bike into the woods and helped the rider up and into his car. He drove the cyclist to his vehicle and waited with him until he felt better.

“These are tremendous examples of what it means to have a ‘Brother’s Keeper’ mindset,” Holland said. “You never know when you’re going to be put in a situation where your actions could save another person’s life. I’m so proud of these men and all employees, at Mississippi Power who don’t just go through safety training, t,hey embrace it and apply it if called upon.”

Beatty, Knight and Williams are the 59th, 60th and 61st recipients of the President’s Award. The company began honoring employees in 1986.