ike Holman, the new manager of AmerenUE's Cape Girardeau-based Southeast District, says his new job isn't hard to figure out.

"It's not brain surgery," Holman said last week from his new office at Ameren's office at 45 S. Minnesota. "We're in the business of keeping the lights on and the gas flowing. We do that and we'll be successful."

Holman, who took the post Feb. 1, is a 21-year veteran of the utility who has worked in Columbia, Mo., since 1989 as assistant manager of Ameren's Little Dixie and Green Hills districts in north-central and northern Missouri.

He succeeds Doug Groesbeck, who is taking the company's early retirement offer after 26 years with the company, the last eight of which involved leading the Cape Girardeau office.

While Holman, 44, has goals of his own (more on that later), he said he takes over a district made better by Groesbeck, who is working until April 1 to help in the transition, meaning Holman is getting help from a man who also knows the importance of keeping the lights on.

"I'm thankful he's been here since I've been here," Holman said. "He's been guiding me and helping to assimilate the job."

Better district

Groesbeck, 53, is indeed leaving the district better than he found it, including improvements in safety, customer satisfaction and cost efficiencies.

In 2001, employees in Southeast Missouri achieved an 83 percent favorability rating from its district customers and outage frequency was reduced by 45 percent over 1998. The district's operating expenses were 25 percent lower in 2001 than in 1994, with 90 district employees serving the district's 83,000 Southeast Missouri customers better today than 160 did in 1994.

When Groesbeck took over, Ameren UE's Southeast District averaged 50 injuries a year, many of which were serious. Some people lost 13 to 14 work days because of injuries.

"I didn't like that," Groesbeck said. "We were bound to end up having at least one person who would never recover. People weren't paying attention to what they were doing."

Some of the accidents were vehicle-related. But not all.

"We have people who work with energized conductors and pressurized gas," he said. "You have to be alert."

Groesbeck worked to make safety a top concern and stressed that the employees take precautions.

"The employees then took it upon themselves," he said. "We have done a good job of elevating the level of safety in the work force."

For the past two years, the Southeast Missouri district was ranked the best district in the state for safety. As of Thursday, the district was about to complete 37 consecutive months without an injury.

Better response times

But there are other measures of improvement.

The district's emergency response time for things like gas leaks is also the best of any of Ameren's districts at 23.5 minutes.

"The key ingredient is the folks we have working out in the field," Groesbeck said.

If Groesbeck has been an effective leader, it's because of his experience. Groesbeck is a native of Charles City, Iowa, and is also a Vietnam veteran, having served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot.

Groesbeck joined Missouri Power & Light Co. in 1977 as a customer service adviser in the Kirksville, Mo., office. He later became a corporate planning administrator and customer service supervisor. Following Missouri Power's merger with Union Electric, he became a human resources administrator in UE's General Office in St. Louis.

In 1986, Groesbeck moved to Columbia as assistant manager of the company's Little Dixie District, and in 1989 became manager of the Lakeside District in Lake of the Ozarks. In 1994, he came to Cape Girardeau.

"Most of my time in Missouri had been in central Missouri," he said. "You don't hear much about Southeast Missouri. I was immediately impressed by Cape Girardeau."

Groesbeck was also involved in the community. He is a member of the board of directors of St. Francis Medical Center and recently served on the boards of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

"I've always targeted 55 for a retirement age," Groesbeck said. "It's a good time to walk away."

Holman highly regarded

Mike Holman, meanwhile, comes highly regarded from his community. Ameren also has enough confidence in him to put him in charge of three districts. Holman will also oversee its Potosi District and St. Francois District in Park Hills.

In Holman's tenure in Columbia, Ameren added about 1,000 natural gas customers a year for 14 years. Holman was involved in several leadership positions, including Columbia's Regional Economic Development Inc. board of directors. Holman also was a member and past director of the Missouri Economic Development Council.

"He's been wonderful, and it's important to have representation from a utility on a board like ours," REDI director Vicki Pratt told the Columbia Daily Tribune when he announced the move in January. "He's plugged in, literally, to economic development circles at the state and national level, and we're going to miss that perspective."

Holman said he will bring that energy to his new job.

Holman said he has a career path similar to Groesbeck's. He grew up in Moberly, Mo., and joined Missouri Power and Light Co. in 1982 as a district clerk. He later became a customer service adviser, like Groesbeck, and continued in the job when MP&L merged with Union Electric Co. in 1983.

'Fantastic opportunity'

In 1987, he was named Quality Improvement Process Facilitator for the company's Regional West before taking the Columbia job. When he was offered the Cape Girardeau job, he said he saw it as "fantastic opportunity."

He said his philosophy is treating people with respect while improving on Groesbeck's successes -- more cost efficiencies, less outage times and building strong relationships with his employees and customers.

"I don't want us to be known as some big utility company from the north that nobody knows except when they get a bill," Holman said.

As of right now, Holman said he's still getting used to the job.

"I don't have all the answers," he said. "Right now, I'm glad to be here to carry on what Doug assisted in implementing."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137