POWERGRAMS

9 Rickey Reed's co-workers and friends agree that he has that "special something" that sets him apart from the crowd, whether he's negotiating land deals for Alabama Power or fiddling onstage with a country music band. "Rickey has got a big personality and gets along with everybody," said Jeff Callicott, team leader, Land Acquisition-Birmingham. "You can tell when he walks into a room. He's very confident, and people are drawn to him." On Dec. 18, Reed, Land Acquisition coordinator, celebrated his 50-year milestone at Alabama Power. "Rickey was my mentor and helped me grow when I took that first position in Land Acquisition," Callicott remembered. "He taught me the do's and don'ts of negotiating and relating to customers, and was always there to answer any questions." Early days After graduating from Winfield High School in 1971 and spending four semesters at Walker College, Reed realized that he was in the wrong place and was soon recommended for a job at Alabama Power by his cousin's husband, who was a crew foreman. "At that point in time, you went to work at the power company on the recommendation of people who knew you and knew you would work," Reed said. Reed joined Alabama Power in December 1972, digging ditches for seven months as a laborer in a Tuscaloosa substation crew. He took a job on a tree crew and then as a meter reader, before becoming an apprentice lineman in Haleyville. Reed finally returned home to Winfield, where he began moving up the ranks on the line crew. "Some of my first memories were of getting up in the morning and seeing my dad sitting in a living room chair to strap on his boots to go to work on the crew," said Reed's son, Patrick. "Growing up, I knew that anytime the lights went out, he was going to be working on getting them back on." Patrick, a real estate specialist in Alabama Power Land Acquisition-South, said he has always been proud to say that his dad works for the company, which led him to choose a similar path when the opportunity came his way. "I have always been a child of the company," Patrick said. "Because we lived in a small town, folks would call our house when their lights went out. If my dad wasn't at home, I would often give them information about the outage based on what I heard him repeat to other people on the phone." Retired Alabama Power Crew Reed stands out at company, in the community for 50 years By Carla Davis PROFILE Reed climbs power pole in the 1970s.

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