Page 3 - MS811

from the desk of
Fred Johnson
As I sit down to write this article for the last issue of the Mississippi 811 magazine for 2024, we have just wound up the 2024 Mississippi Damage Prevention Summit. This year has shaped up to be one of the best, filled with several very interesting and informative sessions to attend. Something new this year was the Locate Rodeo which is a great opportunity to showcase the skills of locators from across the state. There were some very nice cash prizes for the winners. I look for this to become a very popular addition to future Summits.
I decided to showcase our Board of Directors in this issue. These guys have been serving Mississippi 811 with dedication for the well- being of the employees of Mississippi 811 as well as always looking out for all members of Mississippi 811. They are not compensated for their time, yet they serve out of their dedication to damage prevention and desire to keep Mississippi a safer place to live and work. Just in case you don’t know who they are, nor which one represents your stakeholder group, here they are:
Cole Fesmire, Public Works Dir., City of Olive Branch, representing Municipal Utilities. Fred Witherspoon, Sparklight Cable, representing the Cable Television industry. James (Jamie) McKenzie, Atmos Energy, representing Gas Distribution.
Jeremy Hutchenson, Kinder Morgan Pipeline, representing Gas Transmission
Kerry Parker, Boardwalk Pipeline, representing Liquid Pipelines
Kirby Mayfield, MS Rural Water Assn., representing Rural Water Systems Nick Babineaux, AT&T, representing Communications
Scott Brown, Coast Electric Power Assn., representing Electric Power Next time you see one of them, be sure to tell them thank you.
This will be the last time that I will be writing this article. I plan to retire on March 1, 2025. In a Board meeting held at the Summit, the Board promoted Mike Morgan as the incoming President. Mike comes with many years of experience and has served as Operation Director for Mississippi 811 for the past two years. I wish him the best of luck and hope that the membership will support him just as you have me for the past two years.
We are getting into the holiday season. I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how thankful I am to have the opportunity to serve as President of such a fine organization.
I realize that we wouldn’t exist without the support of every utility owner/operator who is a member of Mississippi 811, Inc. Have a blessed Thanksgiving and a Safe and Merry Christmas.
Fred Johnson
President Mississippi 811
2024, Issue 4 Mississippi 811 • 1