Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/921986
43 The Alabama Power years McLean said it was the salary that first aracted him to Alabama Power as a young graduate of Troy University in 1978. Although he had offers from two local banks, he accepted the job as a junior accountant in the Southeast Division Office in Eufaula. "I was told I would make $1,014 a month at Alabama Power," McLean said. "I thought if I could make that much, I would have enough to support a wife, two kids, a dog and live the dream." McLean has spent most of his career in Southeast Division, except for a yearlong sojourn as a Customer Service supervisor in the Birmingham District in 1983. That experience, he said, was eye-opening for a small-town boy. McLean worked in the heart of downtown Birmingham, managing a staff of eight in one of the company's busiest offices. Customers ranged from businesses with millions of dollars to low-income families who could barely make ends meet. Because of the diverse nature of the clientele, McLean said police were stationed in the office to protect employees and walk-in customers. "It was crazy down there," McLean said. "People would say anything or do anything (even had a customer threaten us with a shotgun) to prevent you from turning off their lights. It gave me a great appreciation of what busy really is, but it was a lot of fun." In 1984, McLean returned to Southeast Division, rising through the ranks in Accounting until becoming Enterprise Office manager 10 years later. McLean said one standout memory from those days was when remnant hurricane winds blew through Enterprise and New Brockton, knocking out power to all 18,000 of his customers. McLean, who was District Accounting manager at the time, said because of the hard work of his employees, power was restored in a timely manner. But the natural disaster that came closer to home was the tornado that hit in 2007, destroying Enterprise High School. For a while, McLean had no idea whether his wife, a business education teacher at the school, had been injured or even worse. He was sick that day and had stayed home, but Southeast Division VP Ken Novak and others honored McLean on his retirement. McLean enjoys working on his family farm in Clio.