Sam Houston Electric Cooperative employees Kabe Murphy and Rachel Frey recently completed the Robert I. Kabat Management Internship Program, a six-week program that provides in-depth analysis of the functions and processes of electric co-op management.
The internship was “a phenomenal experience,” said Frey, manager of communication. “This training covered everything from industry-specific topics like power supply portfolios to more general topics like learning to be a better manager of people and projects.”
The program consists of three segments, each lasting two weeks, and is typically held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Frey and Murphy, a Sam Houston EC engineer, to finish their last training session remotely this year. They attended separate sessions, where they joined other electric cooperative employees from across the nation with a wide variety of job responsibilities.
“I met so many people from different backgrounds, and they were all very knowledgeable,” Murphy said. “We still stay in touch and act as resources for one another.”
The program culminated with a required project presentation. Murphy updated Sam Houston EC’s solar distributed energy resources process, and Frey worked on the Co-op’s strategic initiative to ensure areas experiencing growth receive the same high-quality service as the rest of the Co-op’s service area.
“I wish I had been able to present in person; there can be so many technical issues when presenting remotely,” Murphy said. “But I am proud of the work I did and what I learned from other presentations in my group.”
Frey was also proud of her work and what she learned through the program.
“I learned so much about each area of the Cooperative,” Frey said. “From equity management to construction work plans and even legal considerations, a wide variety of information was covered. However, I learned just as much from the other participants in our group about how their cooperative is working to serve the unique needs of their members.
“Kabe and I have talked about our different experiences, and we both noted how grateful we are to the Cooperative’s leadership for sending us to this unique program.”
Engineer Joel Colston and Member Services Supervisor Jeff Slone are currently attending the management internship program.
