The Seven States Power Corp. Board of Directors will head into 2020 with a new leadership team.
Meeting Dec. 10 at Seven States’ Chattanooga office, the corporation’s directors elected Jeff Dykes, CEO at Johnson City, Tenn. based BrightRidge, to a one-year term as chairman. Jim Ferrell, chief executive at Jackson, Tenn., EA, was elected vice chairman and Keith Carnahan, CEO at Meriwether Lewis EC, Centerville, Tenn., was elected secretary/treasurer.
Dykes took the reins at BrightRidge, then Johnson City PB, at the end of 2012. He’s also served as chief executive at Newport, Tenn., UB and Elizabethton, Tenn., ED. He holds an undergraduate degree from Milligan College and succeeds Rody Blevins of Volunteer EC, Decatur, Tenn., as Seven States chairman.
Ferrell succeeds Greg Fay of Clinton, Tenn., UB as Seven States vice chairman. Ferrell has been the chief executive at Jackson EA since March 2012 and has logged nearly 33 years at the utility, where he’d served previously as systems engineer, operations superintendent, vice president and senior vice president.
Carnahan is in his fourth year as CEO at Meriwether Lewis EC, having served previously on the cooperative’s board of directors. He earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at Tennessee Tech University and an MBA from Bethel University. Carnahan takes over for Ferrell as the Seven States secretary/treasurer.
Seven States’ directors also elected Phillip Chaney of Scottsboro, Ala., EPB to represent the Alabama District. Chaney has worked at Scottsboro EPB for 21 years and has been the utility’s manager since mid-2015. He succeeds the retiring Richard Morrissey of Florence, Ala., Utilities on the Seven States board.
Seven States Executive Vice President Betsey Kirk McCall said the staff “truly appreciates the strong leadership and service of our directors,” past and present.
“We look forward to an exciting and productive 2020,” McCall said.
