Lewis Services | 100% Employee-Owned

Welcome back to another Leadership in Action Friday! Meet Eric Vukcevic, an employee of Lewis since 2016. Eric has demonstrated leadership in a variety of ways. Though his title is Equipment Operator, Eric has also been known to review compliance records, fill in for General Forepersons who go on vacation, perform crew observations, and aid in onboarding new employees. Back when he was moving back to Lewis’ service area and preparing to rejoin the company, he asked his future Supervisor if there was anything he could do to help the team while everything was settled. The Supervisor suggested he get certified in herbicide application, which he did. He then went on to earn his herbicide applicator license late last year and is now certified in multiple states. He also took the time to revamp the pesticide reporting process (along with another employee) to make the form easier to understand and complete. “I’m willing to help and everybody’s willing to help back,” Eric says. To learn more about how we do leadership differently here at Lewis, visit https://hubs.ly/Q02FhK9T0 #LeadershipInAction #EmployeeOwners #PowerON

Here’s a 4th of July fun fact to get your holiday started: Did you know the U.S. flag has gone through 27 versions from 1777 to 1960? Most of these changes were due to updating the number of stars on the flag to accurately reflect the number of states in the country. We hope you have a safe Independence Day and enjoy your time with family and friends! #4thofJuly #July4th #IndependenceDay2024

The first ever UAA Virginia Regional Meeting is in the books! As one of the event's sponsors, we were glad to see almost 100 attendees enjoy a day and a half of engaging speakers and an outdoor equipment expo. It's always great to take the time to learn and connect with our fellow industry colleagues and electric co-op partners. Thank you to the Utility Arborist Association for organizing a fantastic event! #safety #education #arborists

Will we be seeing you at the S.E.E. 2024 Annual Conference and Trade Show? We’re heading down to Dallas, TX as a Diamond Sponsor of this year’s event and can’t wait to catch up with industry colleagues and make new connections. Be sure to stop by booth #117 to talk to our executive leadership team, including CEO Leslie Kass and President & COO Dennis Brown. See you there!

Today, millions of Americans are celebrating the day the announcement of freedom finally reached the enslaved people of Texas and, therefore, the whole of the United States at the time. To those celebrating, we wish you safe, joyous festivities as you commemorate the holiday today and throughout the weekend! P.S. – Type “Juneteenth” into Google for a fun surprise! #juneteenth #freedomday

Happy Flag Day! Our employees celebrated by handing out flags and collecting donations for the Veterans Outreach Center, which offers supportive services for veterans and their families. We were honored to sponsor such a meaningful event! #flagday #veterans #veteransupport

Remember last year's record-breaking heat? Divisional Supervisor Diego Canto Dereza and his crews sure do. In fact, after working in sweltering temperatures for 4 consecutive days in Louisiana last year, Diego got word that an employee under a different company that was contracted with the same utility almost passed out from the heat and had to be removed from the job site to recover. As temperatures rise as we approach the summer months and a heat dome is already affecting the western U.S., we decided to explore the growing need for heat planning in a new article, Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks: The Fight Against Heat in Utility Vegetation Management and Beyond. With insights from Alaina Zieglar, CSP, our Director of Safety and Human Performance, and Dr. Ashley Ward, Director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, this latest addition to our blog is a must read! Head over to our website to dig in: https://hubs.ly/Q02Bn3dQ0

“At other utility vegetation management companies, you’re working for someone else. At Lewis—there is no ‘Mr. Lewis.’ We are working for our futures. We are in the driver’s seat.” Rafael Toledo, a Division Manager who joined Lewis in 2017, believes being part of an employee-owned company is game-changing. He knows the funds he’s amassing in his ESOP account will allow him to build a strong future—one that will hopefully include a ranch with lots of land to expand his and his wife’s already bountiful garden. Get to know Rafael Toledo and the important part Lewis’ ESOP is playing in his future planning in the Summer edition of The Cutting Edge, out now! https://hubs.ly/Q02zV_yQ0 #esop #employeeownership #employeeowner #retirement #retirementplanning

Heroes. There's just no better word to describe these men and women. As you flip through the pictures in this post, you'll see just a subset of the nearly 500 dedicated Lewis employees in Texas that have been working tirelessly day after day into their sixth week doing whatever it takes to remove trees from downed wire, broken poles, blocked roads, and homes and businesses so lines can be rebuilt and power can be restored. One team used a small boat to get to a fallen tree on an isolated island in a lake. Another crew worked in an area where storms have knocked the power out four times in the last six weeks. Still another had just watched a line crew get power restored to a section of line where a Lewis crew had cleared the way by removing a large oak tree, only to have another tree two spans down fall and break the line - causing everyone to start over again. And the beat goes on. Morale, hydration, rest, and a "work at the speed of safety" approach remain areas of primary focus for all Lewis leaders and workers in this fight. These men and women are missing time with families, soccer matches and baseball games, sleeping in their own beds, and home-cooked meals as they relentlessly battle Mother Nature and work with their utility partners to get the #PowerON for everyone. The rest of the Lewis team couldn't be more proud of them, and as we say on our daily storm calls, this storm isn't over until the last member of the Lewis family returns home safely. #StormResponse #SafetyFirst #Texas #Utilities #JobDoneRight PICTURE NOTE: Ever wonder what a massive tree looks like laid flat on the ground? Check out the picture with the Lewis worker right in the middle making a final cut on this monster that covers an entire street. Although the car beneath it got crushed, I'm sure the homeowner is glad it fell in the direction it did!

Hi everyone! It’s Amanda Raymond, Marketing Specialist, back again to tell you all about my recent trip to our Illinois division to attend their Transmission Day of Education at the Morton Arboretum. This day was organized by ComEd and hosted by Tom Ringhofer, ComEd’s Manager of Transmission Vegetation Management. Our crews took a break from the field to refresh their safety knowledge with sessions in chainsaw safety, working in sensitive areas, chipper safety and maintenance, and roadside setup (among other topics) from representatives from the Davey Resource Group, Inc., Stantec, STIHL USA, and Bandit Industries, Inc. It was great to see our crews engaged and asking questions, even after working a 16-hour storm work shift the night before. “Today’s important because it brings everybody together. It gets them out of the field and gives them a day to focus on safety and development and learning new things,” Tom Ringhofer told me. The most interesting part of the event for me had to be the raptors session with representatives from the Illinois Raptor Center, who brought a red tail hawk, peregrine falcon, and barn owl along with them. Judging from the oohs and aahs from the crowd as the representatives showed off their feathered friends, I’d say this session was a standout for a lot of the attendees. Special thanks to Division Manager Art Ortiz for letting me experience this Day of Education with his crews. Until next time!