Read some of our customer choice success stories

• Life Care Centers of America Builds Third Lawrenceville Facility
• Georgia Baptist Convention Comes to Gwinnett
• Jackson EMC Serves New Gwinnett Medical Center
• Galleria at Sugarloaf Serves Diverse Community
• Rates and Reliable Power Made Jackson EMC the Civic Center's First Choice
• Havertys Furniture Chooses Jackson EMC
• Dependable Power Helps Bring Mirafi to Jackson County
• Partnership Makes the Difference for Diplomat Companies

Life Care Centers of America Builds Third Lawrenceville Facility

Across the country, Life Care Centers of America (LCCA) operates with the belief that the retirement years can be the best time in a person's life. No other assisted living company in the country is as committed to providing the right balance of comfort, independence, convenience, and security. LCCA currently owns over 260 nursing homes and retirement communities and continues to expand by developing new facilities across the country.

Farrell Preston, Life Care Centers of America, and Joe Hicks, JEMC Commercial/Industrial marketing representative, check out Life Care's latest facility.

The Garden Plaza at Lawrenceville, a new 155-unit facility to be completed in 2007, will offer retirement suites to the area's growing senior population. This will be their third facility on the Lawrenceville campus — and Jackson EMC has been their power provider for each one of them. "Our working relationship with Jackson EMC has been ideal on every project," says Farrell Preston of LCCA. "Even before we break ground, they become an integral part of our construction process. And we've found their business philosophy to be much like ours — with a focus on customer service and affordable rates."

To Jackson EMC, being a good business partner is critical. With over 65 years of successful partnerships with large and small companies, we have experience handling a variety of challenging commercial and industrial projects. Our mission is to provide reliable service whenever and wherever it's needed. That means innovative strategies for energy efficiency; opportunities created; problems solved and reliable service at reasonable prices.

Jackson EMC is the power provider for all three facilities operated by Life Care solved; and reliable service at reasonable prices.

"We're proud to be Life Care Centers' energy provider and partner every step of the way. We consider our business partnership a privilege. Although we've served them at three facilities now, we realize that every new facility over 900kW gives them a choice of provider, and we're glad they choose us every time," says Joe Hicks, Jackson EMC Commercial/Industrial marketing representative.

Location: 230 Collins Industrial Way in Lawrenceville

Business: LCCA is the largest privately-owned company in the U.S. that focuses on senior care.

Community Impact: Once completed, the three Lawrenceville facilities will employ approximately 275 people.

Georgia Baptist Convention Comes to Gwinnett

Representing more than 3,500 churches statewide, the Georgia Baptist Convention headquarters is moving to the Sugarloaf area in Gwinnett. The Southern Baptist group is leaving their current location in DeKalb County because of space constraints. The 145,000-square-foot facility will stand five stories tall, complete with spacious meeting rooms and modern technology.

"We are pleased about our relocation to Gwinnett County," says J. Robert White, Georgia Baptist Convention executive director. "The progressive county and this state-of-the-art facility will make our new location dynamic for a ministry that spans Georgia and reaches around the world. We have a great heritage, but our greatest days are ahead, and the most efficient facility possible is needed for future years."

Todd Evans, Jackson EMC Commercial/Industrial representative, remembers when he received word that Jackson EMC was chosen as the facility's energy provider. "This account was important to us and our service area. They trust our reliability and appreciate our reputation for customer service — a reputation that's part of our 66-year history."

Jackson EMC Serves New Gwinnett Medical Center

The city of Duluth's motto, "pride in old and new," captures the spirit of the new state-of-the-art Gwinnett Medical Center served by Jackson EMC.

"We're a community provider, and we wanted a business partner that's like-minded when it comes to serving the community. When it came time to select our energy provider, we found Jackson EMC to be a good fit," says Thomas Shepherd, vice president of planning for the Gwinnett Health System.

"Gwinnett's new hospital is the first hospital served by the cooperative. As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, we understand the valuable tradition of a community-built hospital. Knowing we were chosen as their energy provider because of our cooperative ideals makes us proud to be a part of this opportunity to bring a new state-of-the-art healthcare facility to Gwinnett citizens," says Randall Pugh, president and CEO of Jackson EMC.

Galleria at Sugarloaf Serves Diverse Community

The Sugarloaf Development's 150,000 square feet of retail space offers shoppers a variety of Asian-themed restaurants, shops and more. Anchored by one of the largest Asian food supermarket chains in America, ASSI Plaza, Galleria at Sugarloaf is on 18 acres fronting Old Peachtree Road.

ASSI Plaza boasts more than 10,000 selections of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Indian foods of the finest quality and lowest prices. The largest of its kind east of the Mississippi River, ASSI Plaza is a 61,500-square-foot full-service Asian grocer offering fresh produce, food courts, live fish and a number of other services.

"Gwinnett's Korean community is more than 40,000 strong, and we wanted to build a development that would meet their needs for food, shopping and entertainment," says Furrow, principal at Sugarloaf Development Group. "Galleria at Sugarloaf is not just for the Asian community; we want everyone to experience the unique shopping experience this development has to offer."

We had a choice, and always had a good experience with Jackson EMC. Their account representatives are very knowledgeable and always there when we need them," Furrow recalls. "We needed Jackson EMC's assistance early on in the project to be sure we were able to meet our client's energy needs. Our clients have enough to worry about as shop owners. Lighting and maintenance is one less thing they have to worry about because of Jackson EMC," says Lance Davis, assistant vice-president of Precision Planning, the company that designed the development.

David Lee, Jackson EMC Commercial/Industrial marketing representative, knows first-hand the importance of offering reliable service at a moment's notice. "I got a call the day before the grand opening that ASSI Plaza wanted more parking lot lights. With less than 24 hours to respond, we had to move quickly and had crews on the scene within an hour," recalls Lee. Although account representatives go the extra mile for their customers, Lee makes it clear that he doesn't work alone. "I may be the first point of contact; however, we work as a team. I contacted Hiram Smith, Jackson EMC distribution design specialist, and he organized the team to get the job done in time for the grand opening."

Attractive Rates and Reliable Power Made Jackson EMC the Civic Center's First Choice

The $90 million expansion of the Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center included a 13,000-seat arena and a 21,800-square foot multi-functional ballroom. When the time to choose a power company came, Preston Williams, Gwinnett Civic Center director, says Jackson EMC offered attractive rates, assistance with energy management and reliable backup power.

The Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center offers meeting and performance space for events including business meetings, conventions, trade shows, civic organizations, performing and sporting events. Scheduled for completion by 2003, the new arena will feature a state-of-the-art house-reduction system, which will allow the facility to accommodate groups ranging from 3,500 to 13,000 seats.

Havertys Furniture Chooses Jackson EMC

Steve Schingler, assistant vice president and general manager of the Havertys Eastern Distribution Center, says Havertys chose Jackson County over other locations because of its central location, accessibility and the strength of its labor pool. With 100 employees, and plans for up to 300 jobs, Havertys brings more than a distribution center, they are offering opportunity. The massive facility houses state-of-the-art equipment and is expected to be the $700 million retailer's central hub for many years, even decades, to come.

Scott Martin, C&I marketing representative (left) with Steve Schingler

The distribution center is a 24-hour operation serving six adjacent eastern states with plans to reach further in the future. An Atlanta-based company, Havertys' newest distribution center showcases its innovative methods. Schingler says the company researched several facilities in order to bring the best equipment, lighting, flooring and materials to this facility.

The state-of-the-art facility was custom-designed for furniture distribution, and with the potential for furniture repairs from along the East Coast coming to this location, Havertys has one of the best equipped repair shops in the industry.

"We chose Jackson EMC because they are a local company. Their competitive pricing and customer service made this an easy choice for Havertys."

Dependable Power Helps Bring Mirafi to Jackson County

Jackson EMC's ability to provide a reliable source of power was a determining factor in T.C. Mirafi's decision to locate in Jackson County.

In 1994, after an extensive location search, the executives of T.C. Mirafi knew where they wanted to locate their newest 400,000-square-foot plant, but one question had to be answered. Would dependable power be available? The company produces geo-textiles that are used in the construction industry for reinforcement, stabilization and erosion control. Named for a combination of the first parts of "Miracle Fibers," T.C. Mirafi boasts over $66 million in annual sales.

"Our manufacturing process involves extruding a polypropylene resin into a staple fiber. A continuous, uninterrupted power flow, with no spikes, surges or outages, is critical," says Plant Manager Tom Edwards. "Any interruption of power can result in hundreds of pounds of wastage. Before this site was chosen, we had to know that Jackson EMC could deliver this kind of service. How they do it, I don't know, but they do. We've had only a couple of interruptions in the past five years, and those were due to something like a car running into a power pole.

"We've had a great relationship with the people at Jackson EMC. They've always been very receptive to our needs and a great help to us in a number of ways. For instance, our facility designers originally determined that we should have two backup generators on the site, which Jackson supplied to us without hesitation. At that time, they were intended for use if there were power outages, to avoid the costs of downtime and stoppages that I just mentioned. But it has turned out that, because of Jackson EMC's ability to provide such excellent service, we haven't needed the backup generators.

"In another situation, we found ourselves isolated here on one occasion when our entrance was cut off by a train on the railroad spur that runs to our plant. Here we were with no way to get in and out of our facility. Jackson EMC has property adjacent to ours and offered us an easement so we could have an emergency exit. So Jackson has been a lot more than just good business partners, they've been good neighbors, too."

Partnership Makes the Difference

When Diplomat Companies decided to locate their multi-million dollar commercial complex next to the Gwinnett Civic Center, they wanted an energy provider they could trust. "We have a sound relationship with the Civic Center, and knowing that Jackson EMC also serves the Civic Center, our decision was very easy," says Mit Amin, project manager for Diplomat Companies.

Making the right choice also led Diplomat to Jackson EMC as well. "There were three important factors that heavily impacted our decision to choose Jackson EMC: competitive pricing, guarantee of service back-up from substations and the expertise of personnel."

David Lee, commercial/industrial marketing representative, says serving the customer is his main priority. "Attending construction meetings and quickly responding to inquiries and requests are a part of the job as a commercial/industrial representative. Although our members may see our hands-on service and availability as an added bonus, to us, it comes with the territory of being a good business partner," says Lee.