09/24/2026
🔌 20 YEARS ON THE LINE 🔌
Twenty years ago, Mickey needed a job. His sister-in-law worked for a temp agency that partnered with Groves Electrical Service and that's where it started. No lineman training, yet. No plan, yet. Just a guy willing to show up, work hard and do the job. His path at Groves led him to GDE.
Two decades later, he's still here. 👏
He's seen the job change completely, from hand tools being traded for battery-powered impacts, normal or no shirts traded for full FR gear on every single person, and growth. He knows that FR gear works, too. He's tested it himself: "When I got burnt, the shirt I had on had two little holes in it... but it worked."
He's seen the job's weight, too. Working the 2006 tornado is a memory that's never left him: "I remember being out there and people were walking like they were in a daze... it was unbelievable."
Ask him what most people don't understand about this work, and he doesn't hesitate: "We can't have power on all the time, every day. Stuff happens. And we’re still out there working to make sure it gets back on."
Twenty years of storms, twenty years of teaching the new guys, twenty years of showing up and he still enjoys being at GDE. Even better, it's just eight miles from home!
His advice to anyone just starting out? "It takes time to learn. You watch, you ask questions, and don't be afraid of asking the questions."
Here's to the ones who keep the lights on. Congratulations on 20 years. 👏