Jesse L. Shekleton Email & Phone Number

Elizabeth, Il, Us

Elizabeth, Il

Accepted a promotion to coordinate and manage operations for a newly launched fiber broadband business, while simultaneously leading key engineering functions. Supervise 1 direct and 8 indirect reports. Administer more than $10M in expense and capital budgets and provide oversight of team members. Research and apply for grants, loans, and additional funding sources. Create policies and procedures, and maintenance plans ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Approve all system design and construction work and evaluate new technologies for deployment. Identify and explore expansion opportunities and communicate findings to the Board of Directors. Draft RFPs for purchase of networking equipment and services cultivating strong business relationships with key vendors. Execute capacity and resource planning.SELECT ACHIEVEMENTS:➨Secured $7M+ in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) grants from state and federal resources.➨Created and rolled out a virtual reality (VR)-based job safety training and corporate safety manual to improve safety across functions.➨Led the design of VR-based safety assessment and requirement training classes presented at the NRECA Tech Advantage Conference and 4 other industry events.➨Negotiated potential joint ventures for fiber build-out with multiple county, village, and city governments.➨Achieved a connectivity milestone with more than 2,000 fiber optic members.➨Guided consistent month-over-month growth, totaling more than 28%, in less than 1 year (added >1,000 accounts).

Elizabeth, Il

As Director, held accountability for managing the Engineering Department and facilitating the design, construction, maintenance, repair, and upgrade of the distribution systems. Administered a$10M budget while guiding technology development and acquisition and represented the company at lobbying activities at the state capital. Led compliance, risk management, contract management, safety, member satisfaction, and staffing. Served on the Upper Management Team and participated in system planning, audits, satisfaction surveys, and financial analysis. Developed and distributed energy resources policies to ensure compliance with wholesale power contract criteria and managed 450+ net meter interconnections. SELECT ACHIEVEMENTS:➨Secured $16.6M+ in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) grants from state and federal programs.➨Served as Chair of the Business Development Subcommittee and participated on the Fiber Task Force, providing guidance to the Board of Directors on use and revenue opportunity of excess fiber capacity.➨Negotiated and guided a $7M transmission asset sale that improved equity 8% and TIER 15% while reducing future costs by avoiding $20M in capital cost expenses to replace aging infrastructure.➨Enabled Jo-Carroll’s NERC registration, including validating the retirement of an under-frequency load shedding plan.➨Collaborated with the Finance Department to transition single substation record units into itemized equipment record units, leading to improvements in asset and records management protocols.Spearheaded a $1M fiber buildout pilot, including results review and summary report.➨Led the installation and commissioning of a highly profitable 2.0MW bi-fuel generator system.➨Facilitated utility-scale solar PV interconnection projects and power purchase agreements.

Elizabeth, Il

Directed electric operations and maintenance functions, including the Substation, Line, and Metering Departments. Evaluated, recommended, and purchased equipment and materials. Provided oversight of a 23-member team and administered and monitored an $8M budget. Acknowledged as the senior technical subject-matter expert for the department and served as a key member of the Senior Management Team. Tracked service reliability, outages, and response times and evaluated team performance to identify performance improvement opportunities.SELECT ACHIEVEMENTS:➨Boosted operational efficiency and mitigated expenses by minimizing overtime, stabilizing budgets, and reducing task hours, while meeting or exceeding quality goals.➨Served as Lead Facilitator for a critical NERC audit conducted by the Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) in 2012.➨Co-managed a vital electric system integration project that enabled the successful merger with an electric cooperative.➨Directed the merger of 5 independent electric systems by designing and deploying a standard phasing diagram and numbering convention.➨Recommended improvements/changes based on member survey action items, resulting in higher member satisfaction levels

Elizabeth, Il

Managed the construction, maintenance, and operation of distribution lines, devices, and equipment. Coordinated safety operations and outage and emergency response tasks.SELECT ACHIEVEMENTS:➨Drove a 3x increase in consumers and substations by guiding business development, supply chain, equipment standardization, and other aspects of an initiative to acquire an investor-owned electric service area.➨Created and executed the cooperative’s first Integrated Vegetation Management Plan, encompassing 2,000 miles of distribution line, which decreased costs and improved system availability and reliability.➨Co-managed the NERC compliance program for more than 100 NERC standards applicable to distribution provider and load-serving entity registrations.➨Led efforts to improve the safety culture and reduce annual incidents and insurance premiums.Achieved early career experience as a Journeyman Lineworker for Jo-Carroll and for Alliant Energy.

Nreca Management Internship Program (Mip)

Powerline Diploma | Dean’S List, Electrical Theory & Powerline Operations

Education record

• NRECA: Supervisor & HR Tools for Effective Performance Management • AIEC: Underground Distribution Hot Line, Rubber Gloving Hot Line.