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It makes my job easy when a customer reaches out to me directly to give a recommendation of someone that I should feature for this quarterly magazine article. Whether that is an employee of their company or a stakeholder in the industry that they work with, I want
to recognize those who stand out as
an MVP for damage prevention. Kyle Mann is the Superintendent of Elk River Public Utility District (ERPUD), and he’s been with the utility for 3.5 years. He reached out to me in the late summer, saying that he had a name that he would like to suggest. Kyle gave me the name Brandon Cook, one of the locators for ERPUD that services Coffee and Franklin Counties down in the Southeastern part of the state. Brandon has only been with the company for a little over a year, but he has made an incredible impact with his work ethic, attention to detail, positive attitude, and customer service skills. Brandon goes above and beyond to make sure that ERPUD is providing the best customer service to its natural gas customers.
Brandon was recruited by another employee of ERPUD that used to locate and now is in construction. Brandon was excited for a change of scenery because he had worked in a factory
and really did not get to interact with people. Brandon told me some of his favorite things about his career with ERPUD. “Just being out and about. You get to enjoy the fresh air, and you get to interact with people. Seeing the same four walls all day long gets old really quick. I worked in a factory for 6 years before doing this. In locating, I get to talk with people I work with and for, get to go out in my company vehicle and go locate. I get to see Sewanee, other parts of Coffee and Franklin counties.” When I asked where Brandon got his good work ethic from, he mentioned
his parents, grandparents, and other mentors he has had along the way.
“I’ve got firefighting experience and a
4 • Tennessee811 2023, Issue 4
customer service background. I just try to take pride in what I do.”
Kyle paid Brandon several compliments and mentioned some of the reasons why he wanted Brandon to be featured in the Tennessee 811 magazine. “Brandon is a hard worker, he has a good attitude, he doesn’t complain, and he doesn’t take shortcuts when locating. He always tries
prevention for ERPUD. “Brandon has shown some leadership traits. We got a new locator a few months ago, named Luke Melton. Brandon has taken Luke under his wing, checking on him to make sure he is doing things right and that he has all the tools he needs to be successful. We divide our locating up by county. In the past, the senior locator got to pick the county that he worked in. Something that really stood out for Brandon is nobody asked him to do this, but he said I’ll take Coffee County. That’s where the majority of the tickets come in. Most of the footage is being called in, and he did not want the new guy to have to deal with that type of stress and pressure. It showed some leadership and initiative.”
When I asked Brandon what one recommendation he would make for other locators or future locators, he
told me this. “Benefits were mentioned earlier in our interview, you couldn’t ask for a better place to work than ERPUD. If everything is caught up, there is some time to slow down and work on other things. For someone new coming in, there are other people at the utility that are going to help you, they are not going to leave you high and dry. Locating is considered a beginning position, but
it is a great way to get your foot in
the door. There are opportunities to move up within the company.” In my interactions with our Member Utilities and excavators, there are some great organizations that take care of their employees like Kyle Mann and the entire management team at ERPUD. Credit to those fine folks at ERPUD for hiring a leader like Brandon Cook.
I would like to thank Kyle Mann, Brandon Cook, and all the folks at ERPUD for being advocates for damage prevention. Remember, always call or click 811 before you dig!
If you’d like to nominate a Damage Prevention MVP, send an email to jfryer@tennessee811.com.
Damage Prevention MVP Brandon Cook
By Jason Fryer,
Damage Prevention Liaison Tennessee811
Brandon Cook, ERPUD
to do the right thing regardless of the ticket count, whether it’s 5 or 30 tickets in a day. We are fortunate to have him at Elk River Public Utility District.” Kyle also mentioned how he always wants his team of locators to “Do every locate like it’s at their mom’s house – don’t take any shortcuts.”
Something else that is interesting is Kyle hired and trained Brandon. Kyle started out as a locator and has moved up within the company for ERPUD.
It makes Kyle especially proud that Brandon has turned into such a good locator and great ambassador of damage