With 6,600 employees across the state, sometimes employment at Alabama Power is a family affair.
For David Mims, being a lineman is a tradition. The fourth-generation employee holds a great sense of pride for his family’s history with the company.
Mims, an Oak Grove line crew foreman, shares this pride with his older brother, Jackie, a local operations lineman in Oak Grove. The brothers started one year apart nearly 38 years ago, following in the footsteps of their father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
After 36-years with the company, David Mims’ responsibilities include the construction and maintenance of all distribution lines in the Oak Grove area. Mims said it’s been a blessing to watch how innovation has changed his job over time.
Alabama Power lineman David Mims is a fourth-generation power company employee from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
“My family has a long history of employment at Alabama Power,” Mims said. “My great-grandfather worked in the 1920s, and I remember growing up and hearing stories of how work was then and while my grandfather was working. All the work was done by hand. We don’t realize how truly blessed we are for the technology and equipment and for how the company cares for our safety.”
It is not unusual to see these deeply rooted connections between co-workers at Alabama Power. Take a look in any part of the state and you will find fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and brothers, like Jeremy and Jason Hulett.
Jason, a local operations lineman in Clay County, has been with Alabama Power for 12 years. He spends his time working on lighting orders, meter replacements and local troubleshooting. His younger brother, Jeremy, has been with the company for five years and is a lineman in Roanoke. His responsibilities include restoring power, completing routine maintenance on lines and establishing service to new homes and businesses.
Jeremy and Jason Hulett share brotherly love and the same line of work at Alabama Power from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
While Jeremy credits his older brother for pushing him to apply with Alabama Power, Jason grew up interested in the job after spending time working electrical jobs with his father. Both brothers have a passion for their roles and the sacrifice they and their families make for it.
The dangerous work performed by linemen is rooted in safeguards such as taking ownership and being brother’s and sister’s keepers. While they worked on the same crew in Talladega before both taking on their current roles, Jeremy said his family members know that both men are protecting each other and being protected by teammates.
“Our family has peace of mind that we are together,” Jason said. “They know we are watching out for each other.”
