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The nine members currently serving on Coast Electric’s Board of Directors are James A. Rester and Maurice Piggott of Picayune,
Roy Baxter of Pearlington, Felix H. Seeger of Bay St. Louis,
Virgil 0. Burge and Kenneth R. Rester of Poplarville, Austin B.
Rouse and Gordon R. Lee of Saucier, and Clyde W. Richard of Biloxi.
The challenge of 1938 was overwhelming - Mr. Blair reports that project manager Carl Vickers at first "could not convince even 50 families to wire their homes so that a line could be constructed." The challenge of 1978 is far greater, but it is well met in the current Board of Directors, and in General Manager Henry L. Thomas. Conservation of energy is the theme of the present and immediate future, but there are far more than 50 families who must be informed...and convinced.
Management of energy is the new concept in conservation, and Mr. Thomas is leading a vigorous campaign to insure that consumers are well versed in the wise use of energy. He has recently formed an "Energy Management Department" to assist all consumers in developing an active plan of energy conservation, which includes weatherization, budgeting, and the elimination of waste.
Henry L. Thomas has been a Coast Electric employee for eight years, and General Manager since February of 1973. But his association with Coast Electric extends well beyond his eight years of employment. Born and raised in Poplarville, he was well acquainted with the program of member owned cooperatives, since his parents were Coast Electric consumers. After attending Poplarville High School and graduating from Pearl River Junior College, Mr. Thomas completed his college education at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received his Master of Science degree. Prior to working for Coast Electric, he was a high school teacher at Poplarville High, and later the Junior High and High School Principal of Harrison Central High School in Gulfport. His knowledge and experience in the three county area of Pearl River, Hancock, and Harrison counties have certainly qualified him as a worthy successor to the late Hardin H. Shattuck.
Sensitivity to the needs of consumers, responsiveness to change, and the skilled knowledge of professionals in a rural electric field - all these qualities combine to insure that the General Manager, and Members of the Board of Directors, as representatives of the consumers of Coast Electric, will successfully meet the challenges of the future, as they are being met in 1978, and were met in 1938.