“He’s done so much more in addition to keeping our lights on,” Eloise Anderson said on Tuesday. “He has vision, leadership and charisma. That’s not easy to find in a leader.”

Anderson, a lifetime banker and long-time member of the BRMEMC board of directors, had nothing but praise for Joe Satterfield, Jr.

Satterfield, who retired as Vice-President and manager of Blue Ridge Mountain EMC on December 31, has done a remarkable job in his 25 years of service, not only in expanding and strengthening the electrical grid in western North Carolina and north Georgia, but also in promoting economic development throughout the region as well as being actively involved in numerous civic and cultural organizations.

“I can name a number of companies that came here or expanded here because of Joe’s eldership,” Erik  Brinke, Director of Economic Development at BRMEMC told me. “Our fiber-optic network has had great success because of Joe’s vision: projects like the WNC EdNET which brought broadband connectivity to all our local schools in Cherokee & Clay counties and most recently the more than $33 million in stimulus funding announced for new broadband deployment across several north Georgia counties (called NGN). Joe has been a leader in the arts, being actively involved with the Peacock Playhouse, Byron Herbert Reece Society/Interpretive Center and maybe most notably as a founding member of the ‘Reach of Song’ drama that was such a fixture in our region for so many years.”

John Kay, retired Young Harris College professor and chairman of the Byron Herbert Reece Society committee, said of Satterfield that he was very involved in establishing the Society. “He is a consummate community servant,” Kay said. “He has been available to people from all types of organizations and all walks of life. He has been willing to help any way he could. He’s one of the most cooperative person’s I’ve ever dealt with. And he is a gentleman, through and through.”

Jane Hindsman, a long-serving executive with the Bank of Hiawassee and an active community leader, spoke of her dealings with Satterfield. “He’s so community minded and understands how every aspect of the community is important,” she said. “He’s been very involved with several chambers of commerce and with the Union County Rotary. He is a great communicator and has lots of vision.”

Joe Satterfield, Jr. started his career in the electrical power field as a meter reader in Covington, Georgia in 1970 after he was discharged from the U.S. Army where he had served in Vietnam in 1968-69. In his new field, he worked his way up the ladder as a warehouseman, plant accountant, bookkeeper and office manager. In 1980, he took a job as office manager with an electrical power company in Colorado. Four years later, he was hired to manage BRMEMC.

Terry Taylor, Chairman of the BRMEMC board of directors, said “Joe has been a good manager for us. I was on the board when we hired him and he was a good pick. During his 25 years our meters have more than doubled as have our employees. He has been exceptional at keeping the board up to speed during this period of unprecedented growth. He has overseen the construction of new sub-stations Ranger, Hiawassee and Blairsville and the rebuilding of the Hayesville sub-station.”

Taylor said when Satterfield took over, BRMEMC didn’t have computers.

“He brought in new technology. We changed to automatic meter reader where the reader didn’t have to get out of his truck. When we sent servicemen out on jobs they had to take along large books of maps, which were expensive to keep reprinting and cumbersome for them to handle. Now laptops are provided them, which are constantly updated. Joe has brought our systems up to date where we can monitor all our sub-stations from the headquarters and in case of trouble, most corrections can be made there without having to physically send someone out to the sub-station.”

Taylor also cited Satterfield’s forward thinking in beginning the transition of the EMC to a more green carbon footprint with the company’s participation in a solar energy project at Martin’s Creek School and helping Towns County Schools con struct wind turbines.

Larry Kernea, now assistant manager at the Murphy Power Board, worked many years at BRMEMC and has a high regard for Satterfield’s leadership.

“He’s an honest fellow,” Kernea said. “And the amazing thing about him is that he is as calm, collected and effective when everything is torn down as he is when everything is running perfect.”

Kernea cited the effective leadership that Satterfield demonstrated during the Blizzard of 1993 and Hurricane Opal of 1995 as the BRMEMC crew worked round the clock for days restoring electric power to the area.

W.C. Nelson, a Union County businessman and chairman of the county’s economic development authority, holds Satterfield in high esteem.

“He has always been extremely helpful for our development authority,” Nelson said. “He stood ready to assist us any way he could as we reached out to attract new industry. You could always count on Joe to do the right thing. He has been extremely fair, always wanting to do the right thing. He has been quick to help, and he wasn’t interested in taking the credit for it. He has done so much to make our area a whole lot better.”