There were no caps and gowns at this graduation, but there sure were a lot of happy faces. Greenville Utilities’ iLead program had a successful wrap-up for the class of nine graduates with a recognition ceremony during the May Board of Commissioners meeting. iLead is our internal leadership development program that was designed to help employees prepare for the next step in their careers at GUC. 

“iLead provides an opportunity for motivated, capable employees to enhance their upward mobility within GUC and compete with the outside market,” said Director of Human Resources Richie Shreves. 

The 2023 iLead graduates were: Chris Bright (Gas), David Bunch (Electric), Kim Coggins (Finance), Wade Corbitt (WTP), Kevin Lockamy (Fleet Maintenance), Kenny McDonald (Fleet Maintenance), Emily Smith (Customer Relations), Amanda Wall (Finance), and LeAnne Wetherington (Customer Relations).   

This group of employees was initially set to begin the program in April 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented their class from starting. They finally came together for orientation in August of 2022.  

Over a period of nine months, participants received more than 80 hours of general “core curriculum” training that included topics such as project management and leadership essentials, diversity awareness, communication essentials, and financial literacy.  

For a final project, the group broke into two teams that each developed projects that could potentially be implemented by GUC. Each team presented their ideas to the Management Team a few weeks before graduation. 

Help us congratulate the iLead class of 2023! 

If you are interested in the iLead program, keep your eyes peeled in January 2024 for details about the program and selection process.