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Co-op supports United Way
2003 Pacesetter drive winding up Flathead Electric is winding up its Pacesetter campaign for this year’s United Way drive, now taking place at businesses throughout the Flathead Valley. Employee pledges are matched by the Co-op, This year’s United Way theme is "Investing in What Matters." Contributions to the United Way go to 26 member agencies, benefiting children, families, youth, neighborhoods and communities. "The needs of the community have grown dramatically during the last year due to the downturn in the economy, work force reductions and layoffs," said Sherry Stevens Wulf, executive director of the local United Way. "The needs in our community have never been greater." Last year, the Co-op and its employees contributed more than $27,500 to the United Way through pledges and the silent auction. The general United Way campaign runs through Dec. 31.
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Computer mapping system tested
Laptop computers give access to detailed information With a few clicks of a mouse, Flathead Electric employees have computer
access to detailed information about the Co-op’s system that once would have
required digging through stacks of maps and ledgers. Under a limited testing program that started this fall, servicemen with
laptop computers can access the same information from the field. They can
pinpoint the location of service calls, see what hardware is in place, and
check a specific pole or meter, all via computer through a program called
Mapguide. "The Mapguide program allows us to translate our mapped information
through Internet technology," said Mike Satterly, the Co-op’s AM/FM
Supervisor who has been working toward digitizing the Co-op’s mapable data
for more than a decade. "It’s such a useful technology that gives us a picture of where we want
to go and lets us know what’s there. We’re finding that it’s doing
everything we want it to do." Satterly is pleased with the early results of the field testing. "It’s taken us where we want to be going," he said. "It puts all that
data in the hands of the people who need it." |
and money also is raised through a silent auction.
Every foot of the Co-op’s
system has been digitally mapped and information is available to employees
from their desktop computers. Geographic features such as roads, rivers and
aerial photography underlay the electrical lines, individual poles and
meters. Information from a variety of sources is incorporated through
digital maps and a detailed database that itemizes every part of the Co-op
system, down to the height of each pole and the amount of wire at a
particular site.