West Florida Electric Cooperative Association, Inc.

Building a better community: WFEC Trustee Charles Holman

One of the core principles of all Touchstone Energy cooperatives, including West Florida Electric, is commitment to community – a value also ever-present and evident in the life of WFEC District 4 Trustee Charles Holman. Through his various roles in the community, he continually strives to improve the quality of life for those around him.

The son of WFEC founders and a 35-year Co-op member himself, Holman began following in his father’s footsteps as a WFEC trustee in 1996. "I ran for the position because I was interested in what the Co-op was doing and wanted to be part of its growth," he said. "I wanted an opportunity to give something back to ‘our co-op’ in appreciation for the many ways it has changed our lives for the better for over 60 years."

Along with the eight other members of WFEC’s board, Holman has worked to ensure the Co-op continues to provide reliable, affordable electricity and other services. Under their effective leadership, WFEC has maintained steady rates the last eight years, decreased its workforce by a third through attrition while growing its system more than 10 percent, brought workers’ compensation claims down to the least of any cooperative’s in Florida, helped create thousands of new jobs in the area, begun providing Internet service that now serves nearly 4,000 subscribers and added nine new bill payment stations.

Holman’s efforts as a WFEC board member and his work as a Graceville city commissioner sometimes overlap. For example, when WFEC and the City Commission, along with the Jackson County Commission, jointly purchased with a grant a 300-acre site for an industrial park in Graceville, Holman was able to assist the project from multiple angles. The property is now home to a juvenile justice facility with excellent growth potential and a Department of Corrections work camp that provides not only jobs, but labor for cleaning up and making improvements throughout the city, as well.

Holman was first elected a city commissioner by the widest margin in Graceville’s history and was unopposed in the last two of his three re-elections. During his eight years on the commission, he’s been encouraged by the city’s progress in upgrading its infrastructure and attracting industry. The commission has been awarded millions in grants that have enabled the city to install a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant, reline or replace 60 percent of a sewer system that was built in 1925, extend water lines to rural areas where some wells were contaminated, add two new water tanks and two new pumps and build a public library. The area’s designation as a state Enterprise Zone has been a crucial factor in the city’s ability to obtain funding for these improvements, Holman noted.

Holman also credits WFEC Executive Vice President and CEO Bill Rimes, formerly the Graceville City Manager, with promoting the city’s progress. "When Bill became city manager, things really took off," he said. "During his time working for the city, then at the Co-op, we’ve built up some experience working together and we work together well."

Other improvements are in store for Graceville, as well. The city recently received an approximately $2 million grant for upgrading the roads into a new sawmill that will soon create about 60 jobs, and the state Dept. of Transportation is preparing to widen and resurface Hwy. 2 between Graceville City Hall and Holmes Creek. "You have to constantly work on all these things," Holman explained. "You have to talk to people, try to build relationships, explain the need to them. That’s an ongoing effort. You can’t leave anything to chance or the projects the area needs won’t get done."

In addition to his role on WFEC’s board and on Graceville’s City Commission, Holman serves the community as board chairman of the Tri-County Community Council. The TCCC oversees a variety of programs that assist disadvantaged or elderly area residents, providing home weatherization, transportation, canning centers and Head Start early childhood education. Of particular importance to Holman is Head Start, where he sometimes stops in to read to the children. "A lot of those kids come from one-parent homes – most with mothers only – and aren’t associated with many males," he explained. "Some of WFEC’s linemen also have sat down and read to them. It makes a difference for them."

Holman also has been involved in Boy Scouts ever since he was a scout himself. In fact, Troop #132 recently honored him for his efforts to promote scouting in the area.

Retired as a U. S. Coast Guard-licensed chief marine engineer after a 30-year career with the Ingram Barge Company, Holman now works as a licensed electrical contractor. Before his retirement, his former employer named a riverboat, the motor vessel Charles B. Holman, in his honor. Holman and his wife, Rachel have two daughters, Cynthia and Donna, a son, Keith, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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