Dec. 18, 2025

This piece is sponsored by Southeastern Electric Cooperative.

Southeastern Electric Cooperative is honoring 13 employees and two board members for their years of service.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to these employees and board members for their dedication and contributions to Southeastern Electric,” CEO Chad Kinsley said. “I appreciate their commitment to our cooperative and our members.”

Keith Geiken, Sioux Falls crew foreman, celebrated his 25-year work anniversary.

“My wife and I are both from Lennox and wanted to stay near family,” Geiken said. “Being able to have a great career and stay close to home was important to me.”

Charles Fink, an electrician at the Marion office, also reached his 25-year milestone. Both Geiken and Fink remember the 2005 ice storm that affected the Parkston area.

“The conditions were grueling,” Fink said. “My job was to supply food and drinks to the crews, and then I assisted with loading and hauling poles to deliver them to the crews. It was incredibly challenging work for everyone but completely rewarding in the end to see the lights come on.”

Todd Nelson, vice president of IT, was recognized for his 35 years of service. Over the years, Nelson has witnessed several changes to the cooperative and the utility industry.

“The changes in technology keep the industry exciting,” Nelson said. “When I started, members were reading their own meters, and now we have the technology for the meters to report the data back to the co-op. We went from paper service orders to completing them on iPads. We are always working to improve our service for our members. I enjoy developing workflows to help make us a more efficient team.”

The following employees and board members celebrated anniversaries:

• Five years: Devin Eppard, Sheryl Fromm and Dean Smethurst
• 10 years: Derik Bialas, Jeremy Hanson, Ben Piehl, Becca Steenek and board member Johnathan Wildeboer
• 15 years: Travis Gerken and Sean Jolley
• 20 years: Duane Pulse
• 25 years: Charles Fink and Keith Geiken
• 30 years: board member Steve Holmberg
• 35 years: Todd Nelson

 Back row: Travis Gerkin, Charles Fink, Duane Pulse, Jeremy Hanson, Keith Geiken, Sheryl Fromm and Devin Eppard. Front row: Becca Steenek, Derik Bialas, Sean Jolley and Dean Smethurst.