Dakota Marshall Takes Home Top Honor
For a second straight year, PEC honored select lineworker apprentices from each district for exhibiting excellence in leadership, classroom exam performance, skills demonstrated, volunteer work with PEC outside of their daily tasks, and acts of service in their local communities. Those selected also needed to have received member recognition for their fieldwork.
Awarded apprentices gathered together to be recognized by their regional operations managers, directors, and PEC executives at our Safety and Technical Training Center in Marble Falls on Thursday, November 21. Those awarded included:
“The folks who were selected to be here today are showing a commitment, day-in-and-day-out, to their team and to our membership, and, at the entry level of our program, they were showing leadership from day one,” said Nathan Fulmer, chief operations officer – distribution.
Several of the apprentices honored reflected on the past year and their time with PEC so far. Cayde Gamble applauded the cooperative for an embracing atmosphere.
“When I went to the Bertram district, it was like they took me in as part of one big family,” he said. “On my first day, they instantly treated me like a little brother.”
Justin Carbajal, who has competed at Texas Lineman’s Rodeo all three years he’s been an apprentice and an International Lineman’s Rodeo competitor in 2024, thanked his leaders and the journeyworkers for teaching him new tricks of the trade over the past year. He also offered some helpful advice to those coming into PEC as first-year apprentices.
“Listen to your journeyworkers because they have a lot of information they can teach you,” he said. “Come in with open ears, be a sponge, and take in all the information you can.”
Apprentice of the Year
Dakota Marshall earned the Apprentice of the Year award in 2024. His name will be placed on the record board displayed in the Safety and Technical Training Center.
“I try my best, and I try to help out the other guys,” he said. “We’re a team, and we have to make sure our team stays strong, keep morale up, and do the best we can. PEC is definitely the cream of the crop, it’s where you want to be.”
About the campaign
Each year, candidates will be nominated for this award by management at each district, who will provide a detailed explanation of why the nominee deserves the award. After an evaluation process, a shortlist of finalists will be determined based on the highest scores or ratings.
The technical training team will also provide scores from class and grading rubrics for additional information. This shortlist will represent the candidates who will move forward to the final selection process.
National Apprenticeship Week
As an extra recognition for National Apprenticeship Week (November 17-23), Bill Bosch Vice President of Apprenticeship & Client Solutions and the one who wrote legislation to create the first-ever National Lineman Appreciation Day, was invited as a special guest.
Bosch spoke about his time in linework and how the hard lessons he learned helped him to be a better teammate and leader to his fellow crews over the years. He noted that while apprentices are in the early stages, they can still be leaders in the field for their crews.
Lastly, he applauded PEC for its strong culture and stressed the importance of keeping it strong as these apprentices move up in their careers.
“Culture is the living heartbeat of a company,” he said. “It must be watered, nurtured, and grown, always defended, and always fought for. You guys got it figured out.”
You can learn more about PEC’s lineworker program at jobs.myPEC.com/become-a-lineworker.
