Seven members of the Liberty team have been recognized with the 2024 Meritorious Service Award from the Midwest Energy Association (MEA).
Established in 1905 as a trade association for electric and natural gas utilities, the MEA today serves nearly 100 energy delivery companies. The annual Meritorious Service awards spotlight actions by industry employees who go above and beyond in service of another.
This year, seven Liberty employees were presented with the award: Derrick Shadwick, Nick Choate, Jacob Kendall, Jared Vandusen, Blake Atha, Jason Untiedt, and Lary Lehman.
Jason Untiedt and Lary Lehman
Pipefitters
Traffic accidents can happen in the blink of an eye – a lesson Jason Untiedt and Lary Lehman were reminded of last year.
The Liberty Pipefitters were driving south on Hwy. 65 as they returned to their office in Sedalia, Missouri. Lehman was behind the wheel, following a semi as it approached an overpass. That’s when a northbound box truck sideswiped the semi.
“(The box truck) crossed over the center and hit the tractor trailer, which lost control and hit the guardrail along the bridge,” said Lehman.
Because of their safety training through Liberty, the two were prepared and immediately responded. Untiedt called 9-1-1 as Lehman tended to the box-car driver, who had sustained injuries.
“His head had hit the window glass,” Lehman said. “He was bleeding pretty good and was shook up.”
He returned to the truck to grab some towels and bandages to stem the bleeding, while Untiedt helped guide traffic away from the accident. The semi driver was uninjured.
“We’ve had first aid and CPR training,” said Untiedt, who said their safety training kicked in as soon as the accident occurred. “Our training definitely helped.”
A nomination letter submitted for the MEA recognition praised them for being able to see the big picture: “Jason and Lary avoided being part of the accident and were able to assist others who were involved and injured.” Congratulations to Jason Untiedt and Lary Lehman!
Blake Atha
Maintenance
Blake Atha is no stranger to the rural blacktop roads of northern Missouri.
As a Local Maintenance Man for Liberty, he often works alone and covers a large area of the company’s service territory. One afternoon in 2023, he found himself behind the wheel for an hourlong drive after attending a training session in Chillicothe, Missouri, on his way back to his office in Salisbury.
“I was driving south on State Highway 5 and saw a Chevy F-10 pickup go into a ditch and roll over into the southbound lane,” Atha said. “I pulled over, put out a traffic cone and made sure the driver was all right.”
In another case of good timing, another car stopped a moment later driven by a 911 dispatcher for the county, who called in the accident to get assistance from sheriff’s deputies.
“The (pickup) was partially blocking the road,” said Atha. “I stayed on the scene and set out several more cones and put on my flashers to alert others.”
A nomination letter submitted on Atha’s behalf for the MEA recognition praised him for his quick response: “It’s not a frequently traveled roadway, and without Blake being in the right spot at the right time and his quick reaction, the driver may have been trapped inside for a long period of time.” Congratulations, Blake Atha!
Jacob Kendall
Senior Construction Operator III
Nothing can ruin a daily commute quite like flat tire – especially if you can’t locate a spare.
Jacob Kendall had traveled to Sedalia, Missouri, to attend a Liberty training session on June 13, 2023. As he prepared to head back to his office in Hannibal, Missouri, he decided to stop at a nearby convenience store to grab a cup of coffee.
“I could see that a woman in the parking lot had blown a tire on her Chrysler minivan,” said Kendall. “She and another woman were looking around the vehicle to find the spare tire. When I turned 18, I worked at a tire shop for a little while. I knew that particular vehicle had the spare stored underneath the driver’s seat … not a good spot at all.”
He stopped to offer some assistance, helping them find and remove the spare and then replace the blown tire so they could get back on their way.
“They were able to get to a tire shop and get a new tire put on,” said Kendall. “Everything was there … I just provided a little bit of knowledge.”
A letter nominating him for the MEA recognition praised him for embodying the spirit of Liberty: “He put his personal needs to the side and turned his attention to someone in need. He continues to represent this company well!” Congratulations, Jacob Kendall!
Nick Choate
Supervisor II, Operations
It was a routine call in the wake of severe weather … a tree limb had taken out a service line at a customer’s home in Buffalo, Missouri. Nick Choate was dispatched in his service truck to assess getting their power restored.
“Normally, when there’s damage like that (on the customer side) we will temporarily disconnect service so customers can make repairs,” Choate said. “We had disconnected them, and shortly thereafter they called and said they were ready to reconnect.”
However, the requested repairs had not been completed for Choate to safely reconnect. He left instructions for what needed to be done. The customer called in again, and Choate returned a second time to find that an acquaintance of theirs had tried unsuccessfully to make the necessary repairs.
While there, he learned the customer (who had two young children) lacked the resources to make the needed repairs.
“After I cleared it with the customer, I took it upon myself to find an electrician for them and told them I’d pay for it,” Choate said. “The electrician came and made repairs and I was able to safely reenergize them.”
The customer’s children wrote notes thanking them for getting their power back on.
“I have empathy for people who are in situations like that,” said Choate, who is now a line supervisor. “I want to share with others because of what Christ has done in my life.”
A nomination letter submitted on his behalf for the MEA award praised him for his selfless act: “This is another example of a Liberty employee helping the communities we serve.” Congratulations to Nick Choate!
Jared Vandusen
Crew Foreman
The eye may be deceived, but the nose knows.
There’s truth in that old expression, especially if the nose recognizes the “rotten egg” smell that comes from the chemical additive that gives natural gas its pungent scent. And it’s a smell that Jared Vandusen knows well.
The Crew Foreman was on a service call to locate a customer’s service line in Richmond, Missouri, when the customer mentioned that his water heater had fallen through the floor of his home. But he assured Vandusen that everything had been “capped off” and there were no safety issues.
“But as I was walking next to the house, I could smell gas and their meter was spinning,” said Vandusen.
“I got my CGI (combustible gas indicator) to check and it was going wild. I shut their gas off and told the customer he needed to evacuate the home.”
The homeowner wasn’t as quick to perceive the danger, however. He had been preparing to unload groceries from his car and viewed getting them inside as his immediate priority.
“I told him his house could be on the verge of exploding, and that if the home wasn’t evacuated, the fire department would need to be involved,” Vandusen said.
The homeowner and his wife then agreed to leave the home and contacted someone qualified to assess the situation. As it turned out, the water heater had severed the gas line when it fell through the floor.
“They were very lucky we were there that day,” said Vandusen. “It took about two hours until it was safe for them to go back inside.”
A letter submitted to nominate him for the MEA award stated: “Jared’s ability to recognize abnormal operating conditions and taking the time to talk to the customer helped him make the proper decision to protect life and property.” Congratulations, Jared Vandusen!
Derrick Shadwick
Manager, Transportation Electrification and Sustainability
It’s not unusual to see an EV driver pull in to make use of the Level 2 charging station at Liberty’s Kodiak operations facility in Joplin, Missouri. Located not far off the highway, it’s a convenient stop for those who need to top off their battery.
What was unusual was to see someone struggling to figure out how to use the charger in the middle of the pouring rain. That’s the sight that greeted Derrick Shadwick, Manager of Transportation-Electrification and Sustainability, one stormy afternoon in 2023 – a woman and her son getting soaked as they unsuccessfully tried to use the charging station to get their blue Ford Mustang Mach-E back on the road.
Shadwick didn’t think twice before heading out into the rain to offer help. He learned that she had only recently purchased the EV and had not used a charger outside of the one she had installed at her home, and that she had only 10% of her battery life left and many miles to go until they reached their destination in southern Arkansas.
“I asked her if she had a ChargePoint account, and she wasn’t familiar with it,” he said. ChargePoint is one of the largest EV charging networks in the U.S.
He escorted the mother and son into the building’s lobby to get out of the rain, then set her up with an account and reviewed the route they were taking to get to their destination. He escorted her to the nearby Big Apple Travel Center, where Liberty has two fast-charging stations available for public use. Shadwick made sure she was successfully able to use her ChargePoint access and recharge her battery, so that she and her son could get back on the road.
From a nomination letter submitted for consideration for the MEA recognition: “This act is one example of Derrick’s empathy and continuous customer focus … we are fortunate to have someone like him on our team and representing Liberty to our customers – or in this case, to a person just traveling through the area.” Congratulations to Derrick Shadwick!